RNA-Sequencing Analysis of Gene-Expression Profiles in the Dorsal Gland of Alligator sinensis at Different Time Points of Embryonic and Neonatal Development.

The holocrine process of sebum, derived from the sebocytes, begins with the proliferation of this undifferentiated and mitotically active population of peripheral, immature cells [[10]]; furthermore, the cells undergo nuclear degeneration and move more centrally, which can lead to the induction of apoptosis and the bursting of cells [[12]]. TdT-Mediated dUTP Nick-End Labeling (TUNEL) Assay for Cell Apoptosis The cell apoptotic analysis was performed on three slides randomly selected to be technical replicates from the E36, E41, and NH1 using commercial TUNEL assay kit (C1089, Beyotime, China). As the most important regulators of cell apoptosis, the key regulator of B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) shows expression patterns in the uropygial gland; this indicates that the terminal differentiation of sebocytes during holocrine secretion in DGs is realized mainly through cell apoptosis [[13]]. For the cell apoptosis pathway, five genes including MCP1, -tubulin 3, CRLM2, CSF2RB, and BIRC5, were down-regulated in the E41 compared with those within the E36 ( I p i < 0.01), whereas no significant difference was detected between E41 and NH1 ( I p i > 0.05). [Extracted from the article]