Li Peifeng, Zhang Qi, Chu Chengzhu, Ren Binlin, Wu Pengfei, Zhang Genxi
College of Animal Science, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taiyuan 030032, China.
Tianjin Key Laboratory of Animal Molecular Breeding and Biotechnology, Tianjin Engineering Research Center of Animal Healthy Farming, Institute of Animal Science and Veterinary, Tianjin Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Tianjin 300381, China.
Animals (Basel). 2024 Aug 2;14(15):2253. doi: 10.3390/ani14152253.
The hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian (HPO) axis plays a pivotal role in the regulation of egg production in chickens. In addition to the traditional understanding of the HPO axis, emerging research highlights the significant role of circRNAs in modulating the functions of this axis. In the study, we collected hypothalamus, pituitary, and ovarian tissues from low-yielding and high-yielding Bian chickens for transcriptome sequencing. We identified 339, 339, and 287 differentially expressed (DE) circRNAs with _value < 0.05 and |log2 (fold change)| ≥ 1 in hypothalamus, pituitary, and ovarian tissues. The Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis for the source genes of DE circRNAs has yielded multiple biological process (BP) entries related to cell development, the nervous system, and proteins, including cellular component morphogenesis, cell morphogenesis, nervous system development, neurogenesis, protein modification process, and protein metabolic process. In the top 30 Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways, we observed the enrichment of the GnRH signaling pathway in both the hypothalamus and the pituitary, solely identified the GnRH secretion pathway in the pituitary, and discovered the pathway of oocyte meiosis in the ovary. Furthermore, given that circRNA primarily functions through the ceRNA mechanism, we constructed ceRNA regulatory networks with DE circRNAs originating from the GnRH signaling pathway, GnRH secretion, ovarian steroidogenesis, steroid hormone biosynthesis, and the estrogen signaling pathway. Finally, several important ceRNA regulatory networks related to reproduction were discovered, such as novel_circ_003662-gga-let-7b/miR-148a-3p/miR-146a-5p/miR-146b-5p and novel_circ_003538-gga-miR-7464-3p-SLC19A1. This study will contribute to advancements in understanding the involvement of circRNAs in the HPO axis, potentially leading to innovations in improving egg production and poultry health.
下丘脑 - 垂体 - 卵巢（HPO）轴在鸡的产蛋调节中起着关键作用。除了对HPO轴的传统认识外，新出现的研究突出了环状RNA（circRNAs）在调节该轴功能方面的重要作用。在本研究中，我们收集了低产和高产边鸡的下丘脑、垂体和卵巢组织进行转录组测序。我们在丘脑、垂体和卵巢组织中分别鉴定出339、339和287个差异表达（DE）circRNAs，其_p值<0.05且|log2（倍数变化）|≥1。对DE circRNAs的来源基因进行的基因本体（GO）富集分析产生了多个与细胞发育、神经系统和蛋白质相关的生物学过程（BP）条目，包括细胞组分形态发生、细胞形态发生、神经系统发育、神经发生、蛋白质修饰过程和蛋白质代谢过程。在京都基因与基因组百科全书（KEGG）的前30条通路中，我们观察到下丘脑和垂体中GnRH信号通路均富集，仅在垂体中鉴定出GnRH分泌通路，并在卵巢中发现了卵母细胞减数分裂通路。此外，鉴于circRNA主要通过ceRNA机制发挥作用，我们构建了源自GnRH信号通路、GnRH分泌、卵巢类固醇生成、类固醇激素生物合成和雌激素信号通路的DE circRNAs的ceRNA调控网络。最后，发现了几个与繁殖相关的重要ceRNA调控网络，如novel_circ_003662 - gga - let - 7b/miR - 148a - 3p/miR - 146a - 5p/miR - 146b - 5p和novel_circ_003538 - gga - miR - 7464 - 3p - SLC19A1。本研究将有助于推进对circRNAs参与HPO轴的理解，可能会在提高产蛋量和家禽健康方面带来创新。
