Identification and Characterization of circRNAs in Non-Lactating Dairy Goat Mammary Glands Reveal Their Regulatory Role in Mammary Cell Involution and Remodeling

Rong Xuan; Jianmin Wang; Qing Li; Yanyan Wang; Shanfeng Du; Qingling Duan; Yanfei Guo; Peipei He; Zhibin Ji; Tianle Chao

doi:10.3390/biom13050860

Identification and Characterization of circRNAs in Non-Lactating Dairy Goat Mammary Glands Reveal Their Regulatory Role in Mammary Cell Involution and Remodeling

Biomolecules. 2023 May 18;13(5):860. doi: 10.3390/biom13050860.

Authors

Rong Xuan¹, Jianmin Wang¹, Qing Li¹, Yanyan Wang¹, Shanfeng Du¹, Qingling Duan¹, Yanfei Guo¹, Peipei He¹, Zhibin Ji¹, Tianle Chao¹

Affiliation

¹ Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Biotechnology and Disease Control and Prevention, Shandong Agricultural University, 61 Daizong Street, Tai'an 271018, China.

Abstract

This study conducted transcriptome sequencing of goat-mammary-gland tissue at the late lactation (LL), dry period (DP), and late gestation (LG) stages to reveal the expression characteristics and molecular functions of circRNAs during mammary involution. A total of 11,756 circRNAs were identified in this study, of which 2528 circRNAs were expressed in all three stages. The number of exonic circRNAs was the largest, and the least identified circRNAs were antisense circRNAs. circRNA source gene analysis found that 9282 circRNAs were derived from 3889 genes, and 127 circRNAs' source genes were unknown. Gene Ontology (GO) terms, such as histone modification, regulation of GTPase activity, and establishment or maintenance of cell polarity, were significantly enriched (FDR < 0.05), which indicates the functional diversity of circRNAs' source genes. A total of 218 differentially expressed circRNAs were identified during the non-lactation period. The number of specifically expressed circRNAs was the highest in the DP and the lowest in LL stages. These indicated temporal specificity of circRNA expression in mammary gland tissues at different developmental stages. In addition, this study also constructed circRNA-miRNA-mRNA competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) regulatory networks related to mammary development, immunity, substance metabolism, and apoptosis. These findings help understand the regulatory role of circRNAs in mammary cell involution and remodeling.

Keywords: cell remodeling; circRNAs; dairy goat; mammary gland involution; non-lactation.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Female
Gene Expression Profiling
Gene Regulatory Networks
Goats / genetics
Goats / metabolism
Lactation / genetics
MicroRNAs* / genetics
MicroRNAs* / metabolism
Pregnancy
RNA, Circular* / genetics

Substances

RNA, Circular
MicroRNAs

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the Shandong Provincial Sheep and Goat Industry Technology System (SDAIT-10-01); The project of improved agricultural varieties in Shandong Province (2021LZGC010); Funds of The Shandong “Double Tops” Program (SYL2017YSTD12); and The project of improved agricultural varieties in Shandong Province (2019LZGC012).