Abstract:

To explore the mechanism of coat color formation and the relationship between MC1R expression and coat color of alpaca, the expression and immunolocalization of MC1R in skin of alpacas with different coat color were analyzed. The adult white and brown alpaca were observed. Both immunohistochemistry and Western blotting methods were used to examine the expression and immunolocalization of MC1R in skins. The result showed that: (1) Immunohistochemistry results showed that MC1R positive immunoreactivity was prominently located at the epidermis, outer root sheath, the proximal hair bulb and follicular papilla. However, in brown alpaca skin,MC1R was prominently located at the epidermis and the proximal hair bulb with a strong staining. In white alpaca skin, MC1R was prominently located at the outer root sheath and epidermis, but it expressed with a weak staining in the proximal hair bulb. MC1R expression was higher in brown skin alpaca than that in white skin alpaca (P<0.01). (2) Western blotting results showed that the protein band in 35 ku extracted in crude protein of skin tissue responsed to MC1R polyclonal antibody in rabbit.MC1R protein expressed in different coat color skin and MC1R expression was higher in brown skin alpaca than that in white skin alpaca (P<0.01). It indicated that expression and immunolocalization of MC1R was related with the phenotype of coat color.