miR-7 regulates the apoptosis of chicken primary myoblasts through the gene.

1. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play a vital role in the proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis of myoblasts. However, the effect of miR-7 on the apoptosis of chicken primary myoblasts (CPMs) and its mechanism is still unclear.2. In this study, the expression of apoptosis marker genes () in CPMs was significantly increased after transfection of miR-7 mimic. The expression of the apoptosis marker genes in CPMs was significantly reduced after transfection with miR-7 inhibitor. Flow cytometry showed that the late apoptosis rate of the mimic group was significantly higher than the negative control (NC). The viable cells of the mimic group were significantly lower than the NC. In contrast, inhibition of miR-7 had the opposite effect.3. The dual-luciferase assay showed that the was a target gene of miR-7. The rescue experiment showed that the gene could attenuate the effect of miR-7 on the expression of apoptosis marker genes in CPMs.4. Determination of the function the gene showed that the expression of the apoptosis marker genes in CPMs decreased significantly compared with the NC after its overexpression. Inhibition of gene had the opposite effect. Flow cytometry showed that overexpression of the gene inhibited early apoptosis of myoblasts (P ≤ 0.01), while interference with the gene could promote early apoptosis of myoblasts (P ≤ 0.001).5. The results demonstrated, for the first time, that miR-7 promotes apoptosis in chicken primary myoblasts by regulating the expression of the gene.