Transcriptional signatures of secondary hair follicles during annual cashmere growth

Cashmere grows from the secondary hair follicles (SHFs) that synchronously regenerate and degenerate in a circannual rhythm. Most studies examining factors related to cashmere growth have been performed on goat skin. However, the molecular properties and regulators preferentially expressed in SHFs are less clear. In this study, we isolated the SHFs from skin under a dissecting microscope and analysed the molecular signatures across the annual growth. It demonstrated the transcriptional profile of the isolated SHFs could accurately decipher the growth state and unequivocally distinguish three phases of the cashmere growth. We identified 1,289 molecular signatures that were differentially expressed between different phases. Real-time PCR verified the accuracy and reliability of our sequencing data for the representative genes. Taken together, the transcriptional profiles and identified molecular signatures extended previous findings, and provided a variety of promising targets for cashmere production, thereby offering valuable starting points for future work.