The periodic growth of hair follicles is regulated by the balance of activators and inhibitors. The BMP signaling pathway plays an important role during hair follicle regeneration, but the exact BMP protein that controls this process has not been revealed. The expression of BMP6 was determined via in situ hybridization and immunofluorescence. The in vivo effect of BMP6 overexpression was studied by using a previously established adenovirus injection model. The hair follicle regeneration was assessed by gross observation, H&E staining and 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine (BrdU) tracing. The expression patterns of BMP6 signaling and Wnt10b signaling in both AdBMP6-treated and AdWnt10b-treated skins were determined by in situ hybridization and immunofluorescence. BMP6 was expressed differently in the stages of hair follicle cycle. The telogen-anagen transition of hair follicles was inhibited by adenovirus-mediated overexpression of BMP6. In the in vivo model, the BMP6 signaling was inhibited by Wnt10b and the Wnt10b signaling was inhibited by BMP6. The activation of hair follicle stem cells (HFSCs) was also competitively regulated by Wnt10b and BMP6. Combined with previously reported data of Wnt10b, our findings indicate that BMP6 and Wnt10b are major inhibitors and activators respectively and their balance regulates the telogen-anagen transition of hair follicles. To the best of our knowledge, our data provide previously unreported insights into the regulation of hair follicle cycling and provide new clues for the diagnosis and therapies of hair loss.

In recent years, urban flooding occurred frequently because of extreme rainstorms. Sponge city construction can effectively mitigate urban flooding and improve urban rainwater utilization. Low-impact development (LID) is regarded as a sustainable solution for urban stormwater management. In this project, a comprehensive evaluation system was developed based on environmental and economic benefits using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and the Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) of the United States (US) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The performance of four LID scenarios with the same locations but different sizes of green roof, permeable pavement, concave greenbelt, and rain garden were analyzed in the Sucheng district of Jiangsu province in China. Results illustrate that the green roof performed best in reducing runoff, while the rain garden performed worst. The LID combination scenario (1) that contained more green roof, permeable pavement, and concave greenbelt facilities, but fewer rain gardens had the better comprehensive performance on the basis of environmental and economic benefits. The combined scenario (2) (LID proportion of maximum construction area was 40%) could also be an alternative. This study provides a guide to optimize LID layouts for sponge city construction, which can also provide optimal selection for other sponge city constructions.

Melanocytes are pigment-producing cells responsible for coloration of skin and hair. Although the importance of Wnt3a in melanocyte development has been well recognized, the role of Wnt3a in mature melanocytes has not been elucidated. This study was conducted to further explore the effects of Wnt3a on melanocyte proliferation and melanogenesis, and to elucidate the possible mechanisms involved. We infected melan-a cells with AdWnt3a to serve as the production source of the Wnt3a protein. MTT assay, 5-bromodeoxyuridine incorporation assay and flow cytometric analysis showed that Wnt3a inhibited the proliferation of melan-a cells and this was associated with decrease of cells in the S phase and increase of cells in the G(1) phase. Melanin content and tyrosinase activity assay revealed that Wnt3a significantly promoted melanogenesis of melan-a cells. Furthermore, western blot analysis showed that Wnt3a upregulated the expression of microphthalmia-associated transcription factor and its downstream target genes, tyrosinase and tyrosinase-related protein 1 in melan-a cells. Collectively, our results suggest that Wnt3a plays an important role in melanocyte homeostasis.