Department of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, College of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China.
College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang 110866, China.
Genes (Basel). 2020 Aug 4;11(8):883. doi: 10.3390/genes11080883.
The alteration in skeletal muscle fiber is a critical factor affecting livestock meat quality traits and human metabolic diseases. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a diverse class of non-coding RNAs with a length of more than 200 nucleotides. However, the mechanisms underlying the regulation of lncRNAs in skeletal muscle fibers remain elusive. To understand the genetic basis of lncRNA-regulated skeletal muscle fiber development, we performed a transcriptome analysis to identify the key lncRNAs affecting skeletal muscle fiber and meat quality traits on a pig model. We generated the lncRNA expression profiles of fast-twitch (Bf) and slow-twitch (Sol) muscles and identified the differentially expressed (DE) lncRNAs using RNA-seq and performed bioinformatics analyses. This allowed us to identify 4581 lncRNA genes among six RNA libraries and 92 DE lncRNAs between Bf and Sol which are the key candidates for the conversion of skeletal muscle fiber types. Moreover, we detected the expression patterns of lncRNA in different tissues and skeletal muscles of various development stages. In addition, we performed a correlation analyses between the expression of DE lncRNA and meat quality traits. Notably, we found that DE lncRNA was highly expressed in skeletal muscle and its expression was significantly higher in Sol than in Bf, with a positive correlation with the expression of () ( = 0.6597, = 0.0016) and a negative correlation with meat quality traits glycolytic potential ( = -0.5447, = 0.0130), as well as drip loss ( = -0.5085, = 0.0221). Moreover, we constructed the lncRNA -mRNAs regulatory network for a better understanding of a possible mechanism regulating skeletal muscle fiber formation. Our data provide the groundwork for studying the lncRNA regulatory mechanisms of skeletal muscle fiber conversion, and given the importance of skeletal muscle fiber types in muscle-related diseases, our data may provide insight into the treatment of muscular diseases in humans.
骨骼肌纤维的改变是影响家畜肉质性状和人类代谢性疾病的关键因素。长链非编码 RNA（lncRNA）是一类长度超过 200 个核苷酸的非编码 RNA。然而，lncRNA 在骨骼肌纤维中的调控机制仍不清楚。为了了解 lncRNA 调控骨骼肌纤维发育的遗传基础，我们在猪模型上进行了转录组分析，以鉴定影响骨骼肌纤维和肉质性状的关键 lncRNA。我们生成了快肌（Bf）和慢肌（Sol）肌肉的 lncRNA 表达谱，使用 RNA-seq 鉴定差异表达（DE）lncRNA，并进行了生物信息学分析。这使我们能够在六个 RNA 文库中鉴定出 4581 个 lncRNA 基因，在 Bf 和 Sol 之间鉴定出 92 个 DE lncRNA，它们是骨骼肌纤维类型转换的关键候选基因。此外，我们检测了 lncRNA 在不同组织和不同发育阶段的骨骼肌中的表达模式。此外，我们还进行了 DE lncRNA 表达与肉质性状之间的相关性分析。值得注意的是，我们发现 DE lncRNA 在骨骼肌中高度表达，其在 Sol 中的表达明显高于 Bf，与（）的表达呈正相关（ = 0.6597， = 0.0016），与肉质性状的糖酵解潜力呈负相关（ = -0.5447， = 0.0130），与滴水损失呈负相关（ = -0.5085， = 0.0221）。此外，我们构建了 lncRNA-mRNAs 调控网络，以更好地理解可能调节骨骼肌纤维形成的机制。我们的数据为研究骨骼肌纤维转换的 lncRNA 调控机制提供了基础，鉴于骨骼肌纤维类型在肌肉相关疾病中的重要性，我们的数据可能为人类肌肉疾病的治疗提供新的思路。
