Identification of Transcriptional Targets of Wnt/beta-catenin Signaling in Dermal Papilla Cells of Human Scalp Hair Follicles: EP2 is a Novel Transcriptional Target of Wnt3a

Background: Recent studies showed that Wnt signaling through the beta-catenin pathway (canonical Wnt signaling) act on mouse dermal papilla cells (DPCs) enabling hair follicles to keep growing.

Objective: To investigate whether human DPCs respond to canonical Wnt signaling and, if so, to identify target genes of Wnt/beta-catenin pathway.

Methods: Cultured human DPCs were transiently transfected with the beta-catenin responsive TCF reporter plasmid (pTopflash) and corresponding negative control reporter (pFopflash) to assess the activity of beta-catenin signaling by Wnt3a (one of the canonical Wnts). Immunofluorescence staining was also performed to localize beta-catenin in the presence or absence of Wnt3a. Microarray was carried out using Affymetrix gene chips. RT-PCR analysis and immunoblot were employed to verify microarray data. Cyclic AMP (cAMP) levels were measured using EIA assay after Wnt3a and PGE2 treatment in DPCs.

Results: Wnt3a significantly stimulated the transcriptional activity of pTopflash but not pFopflash. In line with this, we identified a number of genes that are regulated by Wnt3a. Some of the differently expressed genes including EP2 were confirmed by RT-PCR analysis. Immunoblot further confirmed that EP2 protein is indeed increased by Wnt3a. DPCs pretreated with Wnt3a showed higher responsiveness to PGE2 as measured by cAMP levels.

Conclusions: Elucidation of the role of Wnt3a-regulated genes identified in this study including EP2 would help our understanding of hair-induction and maintenance of anagen phase.