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. 2025 Aug 22;11(34):eadw2382. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adw2382

Fig. 3. RNA-seq of epidermal progenitor cell zone reveals the molecular circuit regulating feather cycling.

Fig. 3.

(A) Schematic drawing shows feather cycling. (B) Epidermal progenitor cell zone dissection from early growth (EG), late growth (LG), and resting (R) phase feather follicles. Green dashed lines indicate the papilla ectoderm (PE) surround the DP. Papilla ectoderm was dissected, and bulk RNA-seq was performed. (C) Hierarchical clustering of the epidermal progenitor cell zone from early growth, late growth, and resting phase feather follicles. Whole feather epidermis is included for comparison purposes. (D) Examples of molecules with declining expression level trends from early growth to resting phase. (E) Examples of FGF signaling expression trends from early growth to resting phase. (F) Examples of molecules with increasing expression level trends from early growth to resting phase. (G) Schematic summary of molecular expression in different growth phase epidermal progenitor cells. Progenitor cell activities will be reduced when entering the resting phase. (H and I) Section in situ hybridization in early growth, late growth, and resting phase feather follicles. (H) IGFBP5; (I) FGFBP1. Red arrows show the increased expression in resting phase epidermis. Green dashed lines indicate papilla ectoderm.