Comparison of internal organs between myostatin mutant and wild‐type piglets

Abstract

BACKGROUND Myostatin (MSTN) negatively regulates skeletal muscle development; however, its functions in internal organs have not been thoroughly investigated. Here, we compared the morphological, molecular, and biological characteristics of the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, kidneys, and tongue of homozygous MSTN mutant (MSTN−/−), heterozygous MSTN mutant (MSTN+/−), and wild‐type (WT) piglets. RESULTS The heart and liver were lighter in MSTN−/− piglets than in MSTN+/− piglets, while the tongue was heavier in MSTN−/− piglets than in WT piglets (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the tongue was longer in MSTN−/− piglets than in WT piglets, and myofibers of the tongue were significantly larger in the former piglets than in the latter ones (P < 0.01). mRNA expression of MSTN in all organs was significantly lower in MSTN−/− and MSTN+/− piglets than in WT piglets (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, mRNA expression of follistatin, which is closely related to MSTN, in the heart and liver was significantly higher in MSTN−/− piglets than in MSTN+/− and WT piglets (P < 0.05). In addition, protein expression of MSTN in the heart, kidneys, and tongue was significantly lower in MSTN−/− piglets than in WT piglets (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION These results suggest that MSTN is widely expressed and has marked effects in multiple internal organs. Myostatin has crucial functions in regulating internal organ size, especially the tongue. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry

Effects of circadian iron administration on iron bioavailability and biological rhythm in pigs

“…Initial and finally body weights of piglets were recorded. The ratio of heart, liver, kidney and spleen weight to bodyweight was calculated as described by Luo – see Eqn (1): 21 …”

Reproduction traits of heterozygous myostatin knockout sows crossbred with homozygous myostatin knockout boars

“…The selection for muscle mass had resulted in underdevelopment of the cardiorespiratory system (De Tavernier et al., 2001). In our previous study, homozygous MSTN −/− piglets had smaller heart but no significant difference in lung weight compared to heterozygous MSTN +/ − piglets (Luo et al., 2019). In this study, no significant changes were observed histologically in the heart and lungs of homozygous MSTN −/− piglets compared to heterozygous MSTN +/ − piglets from the same litter (Figure ).…”

Association of myostatin deficiency with collagen related disease-umbilical hernia and tippy toe standing in pigs

“…RT-PCR was conducted as previously described (Luo et al 2019). Briefly, total RNA was extracted from frozen tissues of tendon and linea alba using EastepÒ Super Total RNA Extraction Kit (Promega), and cDNA was synthesized from the total RNA using PrimeSscriptTM RT reagent Kit (Takara).…”

“…Primers are listed in Table 1. P21 primer was from Huang et al (2019) (Huang et al 2019) and GAPDH and ACVR2B primers were from Luo et al ( 2019) (Luo et al 2019). Other primers were designed using Primer Premier 5 software.…”