Comprehensive Profiles of mRNAs and miRNAs Reveal Molecular Characteristics of Multiple Organ Physiologies and Development in Pigs

Abstract

The pig (Sus scrofa) is not only an important livestock animal but also widely used as a biomedical model. However, the understanding of the molecular characteristics of organs and of the developmental skeletal muscle of the pig is severely limited. Here, we performed a comprehensive transcriptome profiling of mRNAs and miRNAs across nine tissues and three skeletal muscle developmental stages in the Guizhou miniature pig. The reproductive organs (ovary and testis) had greater transcriptome complexity and activity than other tissues, and the highest transcriptome similarity was between skeletal muscle and heart (R = 0.79). We identified 1,819 mRNAs and 96 miRNAs to be tissue-specific in nine organs. Testis had the largest number of tissue-specific mRNAs (992) and miRNAs (40). Only 15 genes and two miRNAs were specifically expressed in skeletal muscle and fat, respectively. During postnatal skeletal muscle development, the mRNAs associated with focal adhesion, Notch signaling, protein digestion, and absorption pathways were up-regulated from D0 to D30 and then down-regulated from D30 and D240, while genes with opposing expression patterns were significantly enriched in the oxidative phosphorylation and proteasome pathways. The miRNAs mainly regulated genes associated with insulin, Wnt, fatty acid biosynthesis, Notch, MAPK, TGF-beta, insulin secretion, ECM–receptor interaction, focal adhesion, and calcium signaling pathways. We also identified 37 new miRNA–mRNA interaction pairs involved in skeletal muscle development. Overall, our data not only provide a rich resource for understanding pig organ physiology and development but also aid the study of the molecular functions of mRNA and miRNA in mammals.

Regulation of myo-miR-24-3p on the Myogenesis and Fiber Type Transformation of Skeletal Muscle

“…Numerous studies have demonstrated that miRNA-mediated regulation in skeletal muscle development, particularly in target gene expression and signaling pathway regulation, is particularly important during skeletal muscle development [ 22 ]. Our previous RNA-seq analysis of skeletal muscle across 27 developmental stages revealed differential expression of miR-24-3p in Tongcheng and Landrace pigs.…”

“…Numerous studies have shown that skeletal muscle development is regulated by multi-modal, multi-level, and multi-dimensional molecular targets and complex genetic mechanisms [ 22 , 23 ]. As crucial regulatory factors, miRNAs play a significant role in various biological processes.…”

Comparative Analysis of MicroRNA Expression Profiles Between Skeletal Muscle- and Adipose-Derived Exosomes in Pig

“…Muscle-specific miR-206 is described to be involved in proliferation and differentiation (Lam et al, 2019). Chen et al (2019) reported miR-1, miR-206 and miR133 family are DE miRNAs in skeletal muscle tissue of Guizhou miniature pig. But in our study, miR-206 was not detected as a DE miRNA in M-EXO.…”

Measuring miRNA in Livestock Using Sensor Technologies: Challenges and Potential Approaches

“…Extracellular miRNAs have been found in the peripheral blood of a number of animal species, including bovines [14], poultry [15], and pigs [16]. As a result of their high stability in the body fluids of livestock, there is significant interest in the use of circulating miRNA as biomarkers for both the detection and the monitoring of disease progression in animals [17,18]. Expression-profiling studies conducted in domestic livestock have determined that miRNAs have distinct spatial (e.g., cell and tissue) and temporal expression patterns [19].…”