Key Laboratory of Bio-resources and Eco-environment, Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China.
The Sichuan Key Laboratory for Conservation Biology of Endangered Wildlife, Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, Chengdu 610081, China.
Aging (Albany NY). 2020 Aug 15;12(15):15705-15729. doi: 10.18632/aging.103783.
Giant pandas are unique Carnivora with a strict bamboo diet. To investigate the molecular mechanism of giant panda nutrient metabolism from newborn to adult, the gene expression profiles of giant panda liver and pancreas tissues collected from three important feeding stages were investigated using RNA-seq. We found a total of 3,211 hepatic and 3,343 pancreatic differentially expressed genes (DEGs) from three comparisons between suckling and no feeding, adult and no feeding, and adult and suckling groups. Few differences in gene-expression profiles were exhibited between no feeding and suckling groups in both tissues. GO and KEGG analyses were performed to further understand the biological functions of the DEGs. In both the liver and pancreas, genes related mainly to cell cycle processes were highly up-regulated in newborn samples whereas genes related to metabolism and immunity were up-regulated in adult giant pandas. The high expression of metabolism-related genes in adult samples probably helps to fulfill the metabolic function requirements of the liver and pancreas. In contrast, several vital genes involved in cholesterol metabolism and protein digestion and absorption were over-expressed in newborn samples. This may indicate the importance of cholesterol metabolism and protein digestion and absorption processes in giant panda infancy.
大熊猫是独特的食肉动物,以严格的竹子为食。为了从新生到成年阶段研究大熊猫营养代谢的分子机制,我们使用 RNA-seq 技术研究了来自三个重要摄食阶段的大熊猫肝脏和胰腺组织的基因表达谱。我们在哺乳和不摄食、成年和不摄食以及成年和哺乳组的三个比较中,总共发现了 3211 个肝脏和 3343 个胰腺差异表达基因(DEGs)。在这两种组织中,不摄食和哺乳组之间的基因表达谱差异很小。GO 和 KEGG 分析进一步了解 DEGs 的生物学功能。在肝脏和胰腺中,与细胞周期过程相关的基因在新生样本中高度上调,而与代谢和免疫相关的基因在成年大熊猫中上调。成年样本中代谢相关基因的高表达可能有助于满足肝脏和胰腺的代谢功能需求。相比之下,几个涉及胆固醇代谢和蛋白质消化吸收的重要基因在新生样本中过表达。这可能表明胆固醇代谢和蛋白质消化吸收过程在大熊猫幼年期的重要性。