Search

Simple Summary: Dermal papilla cells (DPCs) are an important cell in the hair follicle that can maintain nutrition and induce hair follicle formation. A previous study demonstrated that CUT-like homeobox 1 (CUX1) could promote the proliferation of ovine DPCs, but the upstream transcriptional regulatory mechanisms of the CUX1 gene remain largely unknown. In the present study, we aim to investigate the upstream transcriptional regulators of CUX1 to enhance our comprehension of the mechanism of the CUX1 gene in ovine DPCs. Our findings demonstrate that SP1 and KROX20 are two upstream transcriptional regulators of CUX1 and play a critical role in regulating the proliferation of ovine DPCs. Previous studies have demonstrated that CUX1 could contribute to the proliferation of DPCs in vitro, but the upstream transcriptional regulatory mechanisms of CUX1 remain largely unknown. This study aimed to investigate the upstream transcriptional regulators of CUX1 to enhance our comprehension of the mechanism of action of the CUX1 gene in ovine DPCs. Initially, the JASPAR (2024) software was used to predict the upstream target transcription factors for the CUX1 gene. Subsequently, through RT-qPCR and a double luciferase reporter assay, the interaction between SP1, KROX20, and CUX1 was established, respectively. The results indicated that SP1 and KROX20 were two highly reliable upstream transcription regulators for the CUX1 gene. Additionally, we found that SP1 promoted the proliferation of DPCs by overexpressing SP1 in DPCs, and KROX20 inhibited the proliferation of DPCs by overexpressing KROX20 in DPCs. These findings are also consistent with the transcriptional regulation of CUX1 by SP1 and KROX20, respectively. This study suggests that the effect of DPC proliferation in vitro by CUX1 may regulated by the transcription factors SP1 and KROX20. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to identify the target genes of IGFBP3（insulin growth factor binding protein）protein and to investigate its target genes effects on the proliferation and differentiation of Hu sheep skeletal muscle cells. IGFBP3 was an RNA-binding protein that regulates mRNA stability. Previous studies have reported that IGFBP3 promotes the proliferation of Hu sheep skeletal muscle cells and inhibits differentiation, but the downstream genes that bind to it have not been reported yet. We predicted the target genes of IGFBP3 through RNAct and sequencing data, and verified by qPCR and RIP（RNA Immunoprecipitation）experiments, and demonstrated GNAI2（G protein subunit alpha i2）as one of the target gene of IGFBP3. After interference with siRNA, we carried out qPCR, CCK8, EdU, and immunofluorescence experiments, and found that GNAI2 can promote the proliferation and inhibit differentiation of Hu sheep skeletal muscle cells. This study revealed the effects of GNAI2 and provided one of the regulatory mechanisms of IGFBP3 protein underlying sheep muscle development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have shown that melatonin has a certain regulatory effect on the growth of sheep wool. However, the mechanism of melatonin action remains unknown. In the present study, we aimed to understand the role of exogenous melatonin in the dermal papilla cells of Hu sheep. To confirm the optimal melatonin treatment regimen for Hu sheep dermal papilla cells, we detected the cell viability by exposing them to different concentrations of melatonin and different treatment times. The results showed that cell viability was best when dermal papilla cells were treated with 1000 pg/ml of melatonin for 48 h. According to the results of qPCR, CCK-8, EDU, Western blot, and Flow cytometry analysis, we found that 1000 pg/ml melatonin promoted the proliferation and inhibited the apoptosis of dermal papilla cells compared with the exogenous melatonin blank group (control group). Furthermore, we also found that 1000 pg/ml of melatonin promoted the cell cycle progress of dermal papilla cells according to the results of qPCR and Flow cytometry analysis. Overall, our findings showed that melatonin plays an important role in the dermal papilla cells of Hu sheep. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dorper and Hu sheep exhibit different characteristics in terms of reproduction, growth, and meat quality. Comparison of the genomes of two breeds help to reveal important genomic information. In this study, whole genome resequencing of 30 individuals (Dorper, DB and Hu sheep, HY) identified 15,108,125 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Population differentiation (Fst) and cross population extended haplotype homozygosity (XP-EHH) were performed for selective signal analysis. In total, 106 and 515 overlapped genes were present in both the Fst results and XP-EHH results in HY vs DB and in DB vs HY, respectively. In HY vs DB, 106 genes were enriched in 12 GO terms and 83 KEGG pathways, such as ATP binding (GO:0005524) and PI3K-Akt signaling pathway (oas04151). In DB vs HY, 515 genes were enriched in 109 GO terms and 215 KEGG pathways, such as skeletal muscle cell differentiation (GO:0035914) and MAPK signaling pathway (oas04010). According to the annotation results, we identified a series of candidate genes associated with reproduction (UNC5C, BMPR1B, and GLIS1), meat quality (MECOM, MEF2C, and MYF6), and immunity (GMDS, GALK1, and ITGB4). Our investigation has uncovered genomic information for important traits in sheep and provided a basis for subsequent studies of related traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to understand the expression level of YAP1 in the skeletal muscle of Hu sheep and to reveal the regulatory mechanism of YAP1 on Hu sheep skeletal muscle satellite cells (SMSCs). Previous research by our group has found that YAP1 may affect the growth and development of Hu sheep skeletal muscle. In the present study, we found the expression of YAP1 in the skeletal muscle is higher than in other tissues of Hu sheep. Then, we detected the effect of YAP1 on proliferation and differentiation in Hu sheep SMSCs. According to the results of qPCR, CCK-8, EDU, and Western blot, compared to the group of negative control, overexpression of YAP1 promoted the proliferation and inhibited the differentiation of SMSCs according to the results of qPCR, CCK-8, EDU, Western blot, while the interference of YAP1 was on the contrary. Overall, our study suggests that YAP1 is an important functional molecule in the growth and development of skeletal muscle by regulating the proliferation and differentiation of SMSCs. These findings are of great use for understanding the roles of YAP1 in the skeletal muscle of Hu sheep. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copy number variation (CNV) is one kind of genomic structure variations and presents as gains and losses of genomic fragments. More recently, we have made an atlas of CNV maps for livestock. In the future, it is a primary focus to determine the phenotypic effects of candidate CNVs. Lysine Acetyltransferase 6 A (KAT6A) is a protein coding gene and plays a critical role in many cellular processes. However, the effects of KAT6A CNVs on sheep body measurements remains unknown. In this study, we performed quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) to detect the presences and distributions of three CNV regions within KAT6A gene in 672 sheep from four Chinese breeds. Association analysis indicated that the three CNVs of KAT6A gene were significantly associated with body measurement(s) in Small-tailed Han sheep (STH) and Hu sheep (HU) (p < 0.05), while no effects on Large-tailed Han sheep (LTH) were observed (p > 0.05) were observed. Additionally, only one CNV was significantly associated with body measurement (body length) in Chaka sheep (CK) (p < 0.05). Our study provided evidence that the CNV(s) of KAT6A gene could be used as candidate marker(s) for molecular breedings of STH, HU, and CK breeds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insulin-like growth factor 2 mRNA binding protein 1 (IGF2BP1) plays positive roles in the growth, proliferation of cells and early embryos development by binding mRNA targets. Recently, it had been shown that some polymorphic loci within IGF2BP1 gene were associated with growth traits in animals, especially in goats. Therefore, it has been hypothesized that some variants within IGF2BP1 gene may be also involved in growth traits of sheep. Nine insertion/deletion (InDel) mutations within IGF2BP1 were identified and three loci were polymorphic. Meanwhile, the association analyses between three InDels and growth traits were carried out in 745 sheep. The results showed that all InDels included 5 bp InDel in downstream region, 9 bp InDel in intron 4 and 15 bp InDel in intron 2 within IGF2BP1 were significantly associated with growth traits (p<.05). Furthermore, at 5 and 9 bp InDel loci, the individuals of heterozygous genotype (ID) had superior growing performance especially at body weight (BW). In all, three InDels were crucial variants correlated with growth traits and could be applied in marker-assisted selection (MAS) in sheep. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]