Characteristics of microRNAs in Skeletal Muscle of Intrauterine Growth-Restricted Pigs

Yunhong Jing; Mailin Gan; Zhongwei Xie; Jianfeng Ma; Lei Chen; Shunhua Zhang; Ye Zhao; Lili Niu; Yan Wang; Li Zhu; Linyuan Shen

doi:10.3390/genes14071372

Characteristics of microRNAs in Skeletal Muscle of Intrauterine Growth-Restricted Pigs

Genes (Basel). 2023 Jun 28;14(7):1372. doi: 10.3390/genes14071372.

Authors

Yunhong Jing^{1

2}, Mailin Gan^{1

2}, Zhongwei Xie^{1

2}, Jianfeng Ma^{1

2}, Lei Chen^{1

2}, Shunhua Zhang^{1

2}, Ye Zhao^{1

2}, Lili Niu^{1

2}, Yan Wang^{1

2}, Li Zhu^{1

2}, Linyuan Shen^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Multi-Omics, College of Animal and Technology, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China.
² Farm Animal Genetic Resource Exploration and Innovation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China.

Abstract

microRNAs are a class of small RNAs that have been extensively studied, which are involved in many biological processes and disease occurrence. The incidence of intrauterine growth restriction is higher in mammals, especially multiparous mammals. In this study, we found that the weight of the longissimus dorsi of intrauterine growth-restricted pigs was significantly lower than that of normal pigs. Then, intrauterine growth-restricted pig longissimus dorsi were used to characterize miRNA expression profiles by RNA sequencing. A total of 333 miRNAs were identified, of which 26 were differentially expressed. Functional enrichment analysis showed that these differentially expressed miRNAs regulate the expression of their target genes (such as PIK3R1, CCND2, AKT3, and MAP3K7), and these target genes play an important role in the proliferation and differentiation of skeletal muscle through signaling pathways such as the PI3K-Akt, MAPK, and FoxO signaling pathways. Furthermore, miRNA-451 was significantly upregulated in IUGR pig skeletal muscle. Overexpression of miR-451 in C2C12 cells significantly promoted the expression of Mb, Myod, Myog, Myh1, and Myh7, suggesting that miR-451 may be involved in the regulation of the myoblastic differentiation of C2C12 cells. Our results reveal the role of miRNA-451 in regulating myogenic differentiation of skeletal muscle in pigs with intrauterine growth restriction.

Keywords: C2C12 cells; intrauterine growth restriction; miR-451; microRNA; pig; skeletal muscle.

Publication types

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

MeSH terms

Animals
Female
Fetal Growth Retardation / genetics
Fetal Growth Retardation / metabolism
Humans
Mammals / genetics
MicroRNAs* / genetics
MicroRNAs* / metabolism
Muscle, Skeletal / metabolism
Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases / genetics
Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases / metabolism
Signal Transduction / genetics
Swine / genetics

Substances

MicroRNAs
Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases

Grants and funding

This research was funded by National Key Research and Development Program of China (2021YFD1200801); Sichuan Science and Technology Program (2021ZDZX0008, 2021YFYZ0007, 2021YFYZ0030, sccxtd-2023-08-09); China Agriculture Research System (CARS-35); National Center of Technology Innovation for Pigs (NCTIP-XD/C13).