In the present study, we investigated the expression patterns of p63, a member of the p53 gene family, in hair follicle cells at different stages of the hair cycle and examined the relation with cell proliferation activity. For this study, immunohistochemistry for p63 and Ki-67, a marker of cell proliferation, was performed in skin obtained from C3H/he mice with depilation. In the anagen stage, p63 was strongly expressed in the cells of bulge areas and epithelial strand, matrix cells of the hair bulbs and outer root sheath cells, but inner root sheath cells and dermal papilla cells were negative for p63. These expression patterns of p63 were similarly noted in hair follicles in the early catagen stage. In the late catagen and telogen stages of hair follicles, outer root sheath cells, seboblasts and duct cells were immunoreactive for p63. On the other hand, Ki-67-positive cells were selectively observed among the p63 positive cell components, although p63 positive cells were not always proliferative. Most of the matrix cells in the hair bulbs were positive for Ki-67. Ki-67-positive cells were also frequently evident in the cells of epithelial strands in the early anagen stage. Outer root sheath cells were often positive for Ki-67 in the anagen and early catagen stages, but very rare in the late catagen and telogen stages. In summary, p63 was expressed in the bulge stem cells, epithelial strand cells, matrix cells and outer root sheath cells of hair follicles at any stage of the cycle, which was associated with the movement of hair progenitor cells for regeneration. Ki-67-positive cells were evident among the p63-expressing cell components. Our results strongly suggest that p63 plays an important role in stem cell regulation, at least associated with cell proliferation, for the regeneration of hair follicles.

Cows may suffer impaired ovarian function, often accompanied by reduced conception rates and increased embryonic loss. Cystic ovarian disease (COD) is one of the most frequently diagnosed gynecological findings in dairy cattle. It causes temporary infertility and is likely to affect reproduction as well as production parameters in cattle. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the expression patterns of apoptosis (Bcl-2, Bax), implantation (E-cadherin) and immune related proteins (TNF-α, IL-10) in uterine endometrium of Hanwoo (Korean native cattle) with ovarian cyst and normal ovarian follicles. In the Western blot analysis, the expression of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 protein was significantly higher in endometrium with normal ovarian follicles, whereas expression of pro-apoptotic Bax protein was significantly lower. Also, the expressions of E-cadherin and TNF-α proteins were significantly higher in uterine endometrium with normal ovarian follicles. On the other hand, the expression of IL-10 protein was significantly lower in uterine endometrium with normal ovarian follicles. Taken together, our results provided that the expressions of apoptosis, adhesion and immune related proteins in uterine endometrium with ovarian cyst were showed the aberrant patterns, and we suggest that different expression changes of these proteins may be affect to pregnancy ability of cattle.