Transcription Factor CTIP2 Maintains Hair Follicle Stem Cell Pool and Contributes to Altered Expression of LHX2 and NFATC1

Transcription factor CTIP2 (chicken ovalbumin upstream promoter transcription factor-interacting protein 2), also known as BCL11B, is expressed in hair follicles (HFs) of embryonic and adult skin. Ctip2-null mice exhibit reduced HF density during embryonic development. In contrast, conditional inactivation of Ctip2 in the epidermis (Ctip2ep-/-mice) leads to a shorter telogen and a premature entry into anagen during the second phase of hair cycling without a detectable change in the number of HFs. Keratinocytes of the bulge stem cells (SCs) niche of Ctip2ep-/- mice proliferate more and undergo reduced apoptosis compared with the corresponding cells of wild-type mice. However, premature activation of follicular SCs in mice lacking CTIP2 leads to the exhaustion of this SC compartment in comparison with Ctip2L2/L2 mice, which retained quiescent follicle SCs. CTIP2 modulates expression of genes encoding EGFR and NOTCH1 during formation of HFs and those encoding nuclear factor of activated T-cells cytoplasmic calcineurin-dependent 1 and LIM homeobox 2 during normal hair cycling in adult skin. The expression of most of these genes is disrupted in mice lacking CTIP2, and these alterations may underlie the phenotype of Ctip2-null and Ctip2ep-/- mice. CTIP2 appears to serve as a transcriptional organizer that integrates input from multiple signaling cues during HF morphogenesis and hair cycling.