Farm Animal Genetic Resources Exploration and Innovation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Sichuan Agricultural University, PR China; Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Multi-omics, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, College of Animal Science and Technology (Institute of Animal Genetics and Breeding), Sichuan Agricultural University, PR China.
Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, Guizhou Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guiyang, PR China; Guizhou Hongyu Animal Husbandry Technology Development Co., Ltd, Guiyang, PR China.
Int J Biol Macromol. 2023 Dec 31;253(Pt 7):127415. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.127415. Epub 2023 Oct 16.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of RNA macromolecules that play regulatory roles in follicle development by inhibiting protein translation through binding to the 3'UTR of its target genes. Granulosa cell (GC) proliferation, steroidogenesis, and lipid metabolism have indispensable effect during folliculogenesis. In this study, we found that miR-22-3p was highly expressed in the hierarchical follicles of the chickens, which indicated that it may be involved in follicle development. The results obtained suggested that miR-22-3p promoted proliferation, hormone secretion (progesterone and estrogen), and the content of lipid droplets (LDs) in the chicken primary GC. The results from the bioinformatics analysis, luciferase reporter assay, qRT-PCR, and Western blotting, confirmed that PTEN was directly targeted to miR-22-3p. Subsequently, it was revealed that PTEN inhibited proliferation, hormone secretion, and the content of LDs in GC. Therefore, this study showed that miR-22-3p could activate PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway via targeting PTEN. Taken together, the findings from this study indicated that miR-22-3p was highly expressed in the hierarchical follicles of chickens, which promotes GC proliferation, steroidogenesis, and lipid metabolism by repressing PTEN to activate PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway.
微小 RNA（miRNA）是一类 RNA 大分子，通过与靶基因 3'UTR 结合抑制蛋白翻译，在卵泡发育中发挥调节作用。颗粒细胞（GC）增殖、类固醇生成和脂代谢在卵泡发生中起着不可或缺的作用。在本研究中，我们发现 miR-22-3p 在鸡的分级卵泡中高表达，这表明它可能参与卵泡发育。结果表明，miR-22-3p 促进鸡原代 GC 的增殖、激素分泌（孕酮和雌激素）和脂滴（LDs）含量。生物信息学分析、荧光素酶报告基因检测、qRT-PCR 和 Western blot 结果证实，PTEN 是 miR-22-3p 的直接靶标。随后，研究表明 PTEN 抑制 GC 的增殖、激素分泌和 LDs 含量。因此，本研究表明，miR-22-3p 通过靶向 PTEN 激活 PI3K/Akt/mTOR 通路。综上所述，本研究表明，miR-22-3p 在鸡的分级卵泡中高表达，通过抑制 PTEN 激活 PI3K/AKT/mTOR 通路，促进 GC 的增殖、类固醇生成和脂代谢。
