Time-course expression profiles of hair cycle-associated genes in male mini rats after depilation of telogen-phase hairs.

Jcl:WistarTGN(ARGHGEN)1Nts rat (Mini rat) is a growth hormone (GH)-deficient transgenic rat. The hair cycle in the dorsal skin of male Mini rats enters a long-lasting telogen phase after eights weeks of age, but depilation can induce a transient hair cycle again. In this study, a time-course profiling of genes expression was done on the dorsal skin of male Mini rats along the progression of depilation-induced hair cycle using DNA microarray analysis. As a result, 1,215 probe sets including 1,171 hair cycle-related ones showed more than 3-fold changes in expression compared with that in before-depilation telogen phase. The present data will contribute to elucidating the mechanisms of hair cycle regulation and should lead to the identification of novel molecular targets for hair growth and/or depilation agents.