Integrated Analysis of MiRNA and Genes Associated with Meat Quality Reveals that Gga-MiR-140-5p Affects Intramuscular Fat Deposition in Chickens

Abstract

Background/Aims: Poultry meat quality is affected by many factors, among which intramuscular fat (IMF) is predominant. IMF content affects the tenderness, juiciness, and favor of chicken. An increasing number of studies are focusing on the functions of microRNAs (miRNAs) during the adipogenic process. However, little is known about miRNAs associated with poultry IMF deposition, especially intramuscular adipocyte differentiation. Methods: The IMF content of two physiological stages was measured, and miRNA-Seq and RNA-Seq data were integrated and analyzed. A chicken intramuscular adipocyte cell differentiation model was constructed. A luciferase reporter assay, miRNA overexpression, and Oil Red O staining were used to confirm the targets of gga-miR-140-5p. Results: Our results showed that late-laying-period hens, which had a higher IMF content, exhibited lower global expression levels of miRNAs than juvenile hens. A total of 104 differentially expressed (DE) miRNAs were identified between the two groups. Integrated analysis of differentially expressed genes and DE miRNAs identified a total of 378 miRNA-mRNA pairs. Functional enrichment analysis revealed that these intersecting genes are involved in ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis, the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor signaling pathway, glycerophospholipid metabolism, and fatty acid elongation and degradation pathways. Furthermore, we demonstrated that gga-miR-140-5p promoted intramuscular adipocyte differentiation via targeting retinoid X receptor gamma. Conclusion: Our findings may contribute to a more thorough understanding of chicken IMF deposition and the improvement of poultry meat quality.

The Landscape of DNA Methylation Associated With the Transcriptomic Network of Intramuscular Adipocytes Generates Insight Into Intramuscular Fat Deposition in Chicken

“…Oil red O staining was performed following our previously method (Zhang et al, 2018). Cells were fixed with10% PFA for 40 min, and then stained with oil red O for 20 min.…”

Integrative analysis of circRNAs, miRNAs, and mRNAs profiles to reveal ceRNAs networks in chicken intramuscular and abdominal adipogenesis

“…Our previous studies suggested that miRNAs could be crucial regulator in chicken adipogenesis [8,35].…”

“…Increasing number of studies have shown that non-coding RNAs play functional roles in various normal and pathological processes, such as microRNAs (miRNAs) [7][8][9][10] and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) [11][12][13]. Although miRNAs and lncRNAs have been widely studied in adipogenesis recently, the functional roles of other classes of non-coding RNAs are still poorly understood, such as circular RNAs (circRNAs).…”

Integrative analysis of circRNAs, miRNAs, and mRNAs profiles to reveal ceRNAs networks in chicken intramuscular and abdominal adipogenesis

“…Under deep anesthesia, the birds were euthanized by intramuscular injection of pentobarbital (Sigma, St. Louis, MO, USA) (40mg/kg). Intramuscular and abdominal preadipocytes were isolated from the breast muscle and abdominal adipose tissue of 2 weeks old-chicken following the method described by Zhang et al [8,26]. Pollution-free treatment of animal carcasses was performed after the experiment.…”

“…An increasing number of studies have shown that non-coding RNAs regulates various normal and pathological processes, such as microRNAs (miRNAs) [7][8][9][10] and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) [11][12][13]. Although recent studies on the role of miRNAs and lncRNAs in adipogenesis have reached a mature stage, information on the functional roles of other classes of non-coding RNAs, such as circular RNAs (circRNAs) remains scanty.…”