ArticleCommunications biology2025
RXFP2-positive mesenchymal stem cells in the antlerogenic periosteum contribute to postnatal development of deer antlers.
Article in Communications biology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Views on Antlers Then and Now: Past and Present Concepts of Their Development and Histogenesis.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Review
- Review
- Genome-Wide Identification of Candidate Genes Associated with Antler Weight in Tahe Red Deer.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- Accessory Antler Growing From the Left Zygomatic Bone of a Male Rusa Deer (Rusa timorensis).Anatomia, histologia, embryologia · 2026Article
- Advances in deer antler research based on single-cell multi-omics approaches.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2026Review
- Single-cell transcriptome analysis reveals elongation and ossification characteristics of antlers.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The postnatal development of secondary sexual characteristics is a highly complex process governed by diverse molecular signals and serves as a key marker of sexual maturity. Deer antlers exemplify such traits, distinguished not only by their unique ability to regenerate annually but also by their initiation in postnatal life. It is well established that the antlerogenic periosteum (AP) is the only tissue responsible for postnatal antler formation. Here, we identify a population of RXFP2-positive mesenchymal stem cells within the AP of both male and female deer that are crucial for antler development, primarily through the activation of canonical Wnt signaling. This process also relies on M2 macrophages recruited via IL-34 secretion. Furthermore, these cells exhibit reduced expression of HOX genes, suggesting a high degree of developmental plasticity. Our findings offer new insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying the postnatal development of secondary sexual characteristics, using deer antlers serving as a model system.
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