RNAi-mediated SLC7A11 knockdown inhibits melanogenesis-related genes expression in rabbit skin fibroblasts

Solute carrier family 7 member 11 (SLC7A11) is a cystine/glutamate exchanger, also known as xCT, has been found to play an important role in pheomelanin synthesis. Adjusting the cystine content of cells to influence pheomelanin synthesis affects the proportion of total melanin, changing mammalian coat colour. In our previous study, we used RNA-seq to show that SLC7A11 was involved in coat colour regulation in Rex rabbits. However, the precise role of SLC7A11 in rabbit coat colour formation has not been investigated. To better understand the functions of SLC7A11 in rabbits, we used RNA interference (RNAi) to explore the effects of small interfering RNA (siRNA)-mediated downregulation of SLC7A11 gene expression on the expression of melanogenesis-related genes in rabbit skin fibroblasts (RAB-9). The effects of siRNA treatment were measured by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and the efficiency of RNAi was calculated. The expression levels of melanogenesis-related genes, including MITF, MC1R, Agouti, CREB1 and SLC24A5 were detected at 24 h after RNAi transfection. The results showed that MITF, MC1R, SLC24A5, Agouti and CREB1 expression was significantly downregulated after SLC7A11 inhibition. This suggested that changes in SLC7A11 gene expression could directly affect the transcription of genes related to melanin production. This provides a scientific basis for further study of the role of SLC7A11 in the formation of coat colour.