Chen Weidong, Xie Yanshe, Xu Zhiqian, Shang Yijun, Yang Wenzheng, Wang Pengyao, Wu Zhenfang, Cai Gengyuan, Hong Linjun
State Key Laboratory of Swine and Poultry Breeding Industry, National Engineering Research Center for Breeding Swine Industry, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China.
College of Animal Science and Technology, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang 471023, China.
Animals (Basel). 2024 Dec 27;15(1):40. doi: 10.3390/ani15010040.
Artificial insemination (AI), as an efficient assisted reproduction technology, can help the livestock industry to improve livestock and poultry breeds, optimize production performance and improve reproductive efficiency. AI technology has been widely used in pig production in China, but boar fertility affects the effectiveness of AI, and more and more studies have shown that there are significant differences in the fertility of boars with similar semen quality indicators. Therefore, this study aimed to identify biomarker molecules that indicate the level of boar fertility, which is important for improving the efficiency of AI. In this study, we collected 40 mL of ejaculates per boar used for extracellular vesicle (EV) characterization in 20 boars and identified 53 differentially expressed miRNAs by small RNA sequencing, of which 44 miRNAs were up-regulated in the high-fertility seminal EVs compared with low-fertility seminal EVs, and nine miRNAs were down-regulated. miR-26a was most significantly down-regulated in the high-fertility group compared to the low-fertility group, and it was hypothesized that this miRNA could be used as a biomolecular marker of semen reproductive performance. To further determine the effect of miR-26a on sperm function, we successfully established a miR-26a overexpression model and found that miR-26a reduced sperm viability, motility, acrosome integrity, plasma membrane integrity and ATP levels. Bioinformatics analysis and dual luciferase reporter analysis revealed that miR-26a directly targets High mobility group A1 (HMGA1). In conclusion, miR-26a can be used as a biomarker to identify high and low fertility in boar semen.
人工授精（AI）作为一种高效的辅助生殖技术，有助于畜牧业改良畜禽品种、优化生产性能并提高繁殖效率。AI技术在中国猪生产中已被广泛应用，但公猪的生育力会影响AI的效果，并且越来越多的研究表明，精液质量指标相似的公猪在生育力方面存在显著差异。因此，本研究旨在鉴定指示公猪生育力水平的生物标志物分子，这对提高AI效率具有重要意义。在本研究中，我们为20头公猪每头采集40 mL用于细胞外囊泡（EV）表征的射精样本，并通过小RNA测序鉴定出53个差异表达的miRNA，其中44个miRNA在高生育力精液EV中相对于低生育力精液EV上调，9个miRNA下调。与低生育力组相比，miR-26a在高生育力组中下调最为显著，据此推测该miRNA可作为精液生殖性能的生物分子标志物。为进一步确定miR-26a对精子功能的影响，我们成功建立了miR-26a过表达模型，发现miR-26a降低了精子活力、运动能力、顶体完整性、质膜完整性和ATP水平。生物信息学分析和双荧光素酶报告分析表明，miR-26a直接靶向高迁移率族蛋白A1（HMGA1）。总之，miR-26a可作为一种生物标志物来鉴定公猪精液的高生育力和低生育力。
