Ma Chang, Wu Hengsong, Yan Chunchi, Liswaniso Simushi, Sun Xue, Qin Ning, Xu Rifu
Joint International Research Laboratory of Modern Agricultural Technology, Ministry of Education, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, China.
Department of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, College of Animal Science and Technology, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, China.
Front Vet Sci. 2025 Apr 30;12:1583287. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1583287. eCollection 2025.
Follicular development in chickens is a highly coordinated and complex process. While the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis plays a central regulatory role in this process, the role of long noncoding RNAs (LncRNAs) remains unclear. Here, we aimed to identify key differentially expressed LncRNAs and explore their regulatory roles in follicular development, particularly focusing on the MSTRG.4701.7-miR-1786-RORa axis, to provide insights for improving fertility in low-fertility chicken varieties.
Intact follicular tissues were collected from Jilin Black chickens (low-fertility group) and Lohmann Brown Laying hens (high-fertility group) at each stage of ovarian development for transcriptome sequencing to identify key differentially expressed LncRNAs for follow-up analyses. Bioinformatics analysis was also performed to determine the role of the MSTRG.4701.7-miR-1786-RORa regulatory axis, and to clarify whether that MSTRG 4701.7 targets miR-1786/RORa to competitively regulate the proliferation and differentiation of chicken follicular granulosa cells (GCs). We also knocked down and overexpressed key genes, MSTRG.4701.7 and miR-1786 and thereafter, determined changes in the mRNA and protein expression levels of axial terminal mRNA-RORa.
MSTRG.4701.7 promotes the apoptosis of chicken follicular GCs, while miR-1786 reverses this phenomenon. RORa was also identified as a functional target of miR-1786 in GCs, and as a competitive endogenous RNA, MSTRG.4701.7 regulated RORa expression by sponging miR-1786, thereby playing a regulatory role in GCs. Additionally, interfering with MSTRG.4701.7 expression significantly downregulated RORa mRNA and protein expression levels, while interfering with miR-1786 showed the opposite effect.
MSTRG.4701.7 plays a critical role in follicular development in chickens by influencing GC proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. The resent results provide useful molecular evidence for elucidating the genetic mechanism underlying ovarian follicle development associated with egg production in chicken.
鸡的卵泡发育是一个高度协调且复杂的过程。虽然下丘脑 - 垂体 - 性腺轴在这一过程中发挥着核心调节作用，但长链非编码RNA（LncRNAs）的作用仍不清楚。在此，我们旨在鉴定关键的差异表达LncRNAs，并探索它们在卵泡发育中的调节作用，尤其关注MSTRG.4701.7 - miR - 1786 - RORa轴，为提高低繁殖力鸡品种的繁殖力提供见解。
在卵巢发育的每个阶段，从吉林黑鸡（低繁殖力组）和罗曼褐蛋鸡（高繁殖力组）收集完整的卵泡组织进行转录组测序，以鉴定关键的差异表达LncRNAs用于后续分析。还进行了生物信息学分析，以确定MSTRG.4701.7 - miR - 1786 - RORa调节轴的作用，并阐明MSTRG 4701.7是否靶向miR - 1786/RORa以竞争性调节鸡卵泡颗粒细胞（GCs）的增殖和分化。我们还敲低和过表达关键基因MSTRG.4701.7和miR - 1786，然后确定轴末端mRNA - RORa的mRNA和蛋白表达水平的变化。
MSTRG.4701.7促进鸡卵泡GCs的凋亡，而miR - 1786可逆转这一现象。RORa也被鉴定为GCs中miR - 1786的功能靶点，并且作为竞争性内源RNA，MSTRG.4701.7通过海绵吸附miR - 1786来调节RORa的表达，从而在GCs中发挥调节作用。此外，干扰MSTRG.4701.7的表达显著下调RORa的mRNA和蛋白表达水平，而干扰miR - 1786则显示出相反的效果。
MSTRG.4701.7通过影响GCs的增殖、分化和凋亡在鸡卵泡发育中起关键作用。目前的结果为阐明与鸡产蛋相关的卵巢卵泡发育的遗传机制提供了有用的分子证据。
