Chen Lei, Zhang Liang, Zhao Yanni, He Ming, Wu Honglin, Wang Jingheng, Chen Zhoulong, Zhao Yongqi, Shen Fujun, Zhang Xiuyue
Key Laboratory of Bio-resources and Eco-environment, Ministry of Education, College of Life Science, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610064, China.
Sichuan Key Laboratory for Conservation Biology of Endangered Wildlife, Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, 1375 Panda Road, Northern Suburb, Chengdu, 610081, China.
BMC Genomics. 2025 Apr 24;26(1):404. doi: 10.1186/s12864-025-11606-w.
DNA methylation plays a crucial role in species development and environmental adaptation. In mammals, there are significant dietary changes from infancy to adulthood. Notably, the red panda transitions from milk consumption as juveniles to a bamboo-based diet as adults, with significant alterations in food characteristics and nutritional content. However, the regulatory role of DNA methylation in this process remains unclear. In this study, we investigate the regulatory role of DNA methylation on the expression of digestive and metabolic genes in the liver and pancreas during the red panda's dietary transition from suckling stage to adulthood.
Our findings reveal significant differences in DNA methylation patterns before and after dietary transition, highlighting the specific alterations in the methylation profiles of genes involved in lipid, carbohydrate, and amino acid metabolism. We found that perilipin-4 (PLIN4) is hypomethylated and highly expressed in the liver of adult red pandas, facilitating lipid droplet formation and storage, crucial for adapting to the low-fat content in bamboo. In contrast, genes like lipoprotein lipase (LPL), crucial for lipid breakdown, exhibited hypermethylated with low-expression patterns, reflecting a reduced lipid metabolism capacity in adults. Carbohydrate metabolism-related genes like ADH4 and FAM3C are hypomethylated and highly expressed in adults, enhancing glycogen production and glucose utilization. Genes involved in protein metabolism like CTSZ and GLDC, exhibit hypomethylated with high-expression and hypermethylated with low-expression patterns in the pancreas of adults, respectively, contributing to protein metabolism balance post-weaning.
This study reveals the regulatory role of DNA methylation in the dietary transition of red pandas from milk to bamboo and provides methylation evidence for the molecular regulation of adaptive expression of digestive and metabolic genes in red pandas with specialized diets.
DNA甲基化在物种发育和环境适应中起着至关重要的作用。在哺乳动物中，从幼年到成年会有显著的饮食变化。值得注意的是，小熊猫从幼年时食用乳汁转变为成年后以竹子为食，食物特性和营养成分发生了显著变化。然而，DNA甲基化在此过程中的调控作用仍不清楚。在本研究中，我们调查了DNA甲基化在小熊猫从哺乳阶段到成年的饮食转变过程中对肝脏和胰腺中消化和代谢基因表达的调控作用。
我们的研究结果揭示了饮食转变前后DNA甲基化模式的显著差异，突出了参与脂质、碳水化合物和氨基酸代谢的基因甲基化谱的特定变化。我们发现，成年小熊猫肝脏中的围脂滴蛋白4（PLIN4）发生低甲基化并高表达，促进脂滴的形成和储存，这对于适应竹子中的低脂肪含量至关重要。相比之下，对脂质分解至关重要的脂蛋白脂肪酶（LPL）等基因则表现为高甲基化且低表达模式，反映出成年小熊猫脂质代谢能力下降。与碳水化合物代谢相关的基因如ADH4和FAM3C在成年小熊猫中发生低甲基化并高表达，增强了糖原生成和葡萄糖利用。参与蛋白质代谢的基因如CTSZ和GLDC，在成年小熊猫胰腺中分别表现为低甲基化且高表达和高甲基化且低表达模式，有助于断奶后蛋白质代谢平衡。
本研究揭示了DNA甲基化在小熊猫从乳汁到竹子饮食转变中的调控作用，并为具有特殊饮食的小熊猫消化和代谢基因适应性表达的分子调控提供了甲基化证据。
