MicroRNA‐21 and microRNA‐214 play important role in reproduction regulation during porcine estrous

Abstract

Normal estrous cycle is crucial for porcine reproduction, and microRNA is closely related to regulation of estrous cycle in porcine ovaries. In this study, we found that the expression of miR-214 in porcine ovaries was higher than in many other tissues, and miR-21 expression in ovaries was significantly higher than in the uterus and pituitary. Meanwhile, miR-21 was upregulated and miR-214 was downregulated in the ovaries of high litter size (YH) pigs compared with low litter size (YL) pigs. Moreover, the lowest expression of miR-21 and miR-214 occurred on Days 14 and 7 of the estrous cycle and was expressed at greater levels in the granulosa cells of subordinate follicles than in dominant follicles on Day 3 of the estrous cycle. Bioinformatics analysis showed that miR-21 and miR-214 might target several genes that involved in the mTOR signaling, apoptosis, and steroid biosynthesis pathways, and they play important roles in maintaining the porcine estrous cycle. The qPCR and western blot analysis indicated that miR-214 inhibited the expression of SCARB1 gene in the transcriptional level, but not affected the SCARB1 gene's protein level. Our research findings indicated that miR-21 and miR-214 played important roles in reproduction regulation during porcine estrous.

miR-21 and Pellino-1 Expression Profiling in Autoimmune Premature Ovarian Insufficiency

“…miR-21 plays an essential role in the cellular and physiological pathways in the reproductive system via regulating target genes. Tian et al [26] found that elevated miR-21 might maintain the porcine estrous cycle via targeting genes that are related to the mTOR, apoptosis, and steroidogenesis pathways. Donadeu et al [25] confirmed that miR-21-5p/-3p were expressed at a higher level in atretic follicles, and their target genes HIF1A, ETS1, and MSH2 were downregulated during follicle atresia.…”

MiR-214-3p Promotes Proliferation and Inhibits Estradiol Synthesis In Porcine Granulosa Cells

“…1B), which is consistent with previously published observations (22). miR-214-3p is expressed to greatest extent in porcine ovarian tissue among other body tissues (24).…”

“…Sequencing results from the ovarian tissue of Yorkshire pigs has shown that miR-214 expression significantly differs between large and small litter sizes (23). Studies have also shown that miR-214 may regulate steroids by targeting low-density lipoprotein receptor genes in rat GCs (24). We used Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway and Gene Ontology (GO) analyses to find that miR-214-3p is enriched in the TGF-beta signaling pathway and mTOR signaling pathway, and further, is involved in the physiological processes of cell proliferation and estradiol synthesis.…”

Genomic analysis reveals selection signatures of the Wannan Black pig during domestication and breeding

“…Macrophage stimulating 1 can regulate post-infarction cardiac injury through the JNK-Drp1-mitochondrial fission pathway [47]. Our previous research on MicroRNA-21 and microRNA-214 revealed that they play an important role in the regulation of estrous during porcine reproduction [20]. Analysis of the natural resistance-associated macrophage protein 1 encoding gene in Wannan black pig and Yorkshire identified a single nucleotide polymorphism, which was significantly associated with level of white blood cell % (p = 0.04), monocyte % (p = 0.024), rate of cyotoxin in monocyte % (p = 0.013) and CD4 -CD8 + T lymphocyte (p = 0.023) elucidating the disease-resistance of Wannan black pig compared to Yorkshire [19].…”

“…Our previous study about retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4) gene and cholesteryl estertransfer protein (CETP) gene in Wannan black pig revealed that RBP4 was significantly associated with average back-fat thickness and meat color b* value, and identified a mutation in CETP, which had significant effects on the expression in liver and correlated positively with serum lipid and meat fat phenotypes [17,18]. Moreover, other genes and microRNAs related with immune traits and fertility have been identified [19,20]. However, these studies were performed only on a few genes and microRNAs.…”