ArticleBMC genomics2018
Transcriptome analyses of reprogrammed feather / scale chimeric explants revealed co-expressed epithelial gene networks during organ specification.
Article in BMC genomics, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- Comparative Transcriptomics of Feather Follicles Reveals Potential Candidate Genes for Duck Feather Type Differentiation.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- Hierarchical Gene Cluster Regulation Across Vertebrate Skins: Developmental Control of Keratin Gene Expression.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Novel tissue mechanics-guided cellular flows drive the formation of feather follicles.The EMBO journal · 2026Article
- Convergent evolution of noncoding elements associated with short tarsus length in birds.BMC biology · 2025Article
- A chromosome-level genome assembly of the Asian house martin implies potential genes associated with the feathered-foot trait.G3 (Bethesda, Md.) · 2024Article
- Review
- Chicken chromatin accessibility atlas accelerates epigenetic annotation of birds and gene fine-mapping associated with growth traits.Zoological research · 2023Article
- Single-cell transcriptomics defines keratinocyte differentiation in avian scutate scales.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Making region-specific integumentary organs in birds: evolution and modifications.Current opinion in genetics & development · 2021Review
- Pigeon foot feathering reveals conserved limb identity networks.Developmental biology · 2019Article
- Developmental plasticity of epithelial stem cells in tooth and taste bud renewal.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe molecular mechanism controlling regional specific skin appendage phenotypes is a fundamental question that remains unresolved. We recently identified feather and scale primordium associated genes and with functional studies, proposed five major modules are involved in scale-to-feather conversion and their integration is essential to form today's feathers. Yet, how the molecular networks are wired and integrated at the genomic level is still unknown.
resultsHere, we combine classical recombination experiments and systems biology technology to explore the molecular mechanism controlling cell fate specification. In the chimeric explant, dermal fate is more stable, while epidermal fate is reprogrammed to be similar to the original appendage type of the mesenchyme. We analyze transcriptome changes in both scale-to-feather and feather-to-scale transition in the epidermis. We found a highly interconnected regulatory gene network controlling skin appendage types. These gene networks are organized around two molecular hubs, β-catenin and retinoic acid (RA), which can bind to regulatory elements controlling downstream gene expression, leading to scale or feather fates. ATAC sequencing analyses revealed about 1000 altered widely distributed chromatin open sites. We find that perturbation of a key gene alters the expression of many other co-expressed genes in the same module.
conclusionsOur findings suggest that these feather / scale fate specification genes form an interconnected network and rewiring of the gene network can lead to changes of appendage phenotypes, acting similarly to endogenous reprogramming at the tissue level. This work shows that key hub molecules, β-catenin and retinoic acid, regulate scale / feather fate specification gene networks, opening up new possibilities to understand the switches controlling organ phenotypes in a two component (epithelial and mesenchyme) system.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.