Molecular cloning and functional characterization of myogenin promoter in Min pig

Myogenin (MyoG) plays an important role in muscle differentiation, which can initiate the formation of the fusion of muscle cells and myofibroblasts. To investigate the transcriptional regulatory mechanism of MyoG gene in Min pig, the promoter fragment spanning from −2085 bp to +118 bp was amplified with PCR, and the potential transcriptional elements were predicted via bioinformatics analysis. Subsequently, nine promoter segments with different base pair sizes were obtained and ligated into PGL3-Basic vectors, respectively. Lastly, the functional activity of each of the aforementioned promoters was tested separately in transiently transfected C2C12 cells via a dual-luciferase assay system. The results indicated that the sequence −199 bp to −31 bp may have the basic activity of the promoter. Further analysis demonstrated that the sequence −137 bp to −101 bp was important for the basic transcriptional activity. Bioinformatics analysis showed that CdxA and MZF1 transcription factors may play an impo...