Mesenchymal Meis2 controls whisker development independently from trigeminal sensory innervation

Mesenchymal Meis2 controls whisker development independently from trigeminal sensory innervation

Hair follicle development is initiated by reciprocal molecular interactions between the placode-forming epithelium and the underlying mesenchyme. Cell fate transformation in dermal fibroblasts generates a cell niche for placode induction by activation of signaling pathways WNT, EDA, and FGF in the epithelium. These successive paracrine epithelial signals initiate dermal condensation in the underlying mesenchyme. Although epithelial signaling fro…