Transcriptome Analysis and Gene Identification in the Pulmonary Artery of Broilers with Ascites Syndrome

Abstract

BackgroundPulmonary arterial hypertension, also known as Ascites syndrome (AS), remains a clinically challenging disease with a large impact on both humans and broiler chickens. Pulmonary arterial remodeling presents a key step in the development of AS. The precise molecular mechanism of pulmonary artery remodeling regulating AS progression remains unclear.Methodology/Principal FindingsWe obtained pulmonary arteries from two positive AS and two normal broilers for RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis and pathological observation. RNA-seq analysis revealed a total of 895 significantly differentially expressed genes (DEGs) with 437 up-regulated and 458 down-regulated genes, which were significantly enriched to 12 GO (Gene Ontology) terms and 4 KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) pathways (Padj<0.05) regulating pulmonary artery remodeling and consequently occurrence of AS. These GO terms and pathways include ribosome, Jak-STAT and NOD-like receptor signaling pathways which regulate pulmonary artery remodeling through vascular smooth cell proliferation, inflammation and vascular smooth cell proliferation together. Some notable DEGs within these pathways included downregulation of genes like RPL 5, 7, 8, 9, 14; upregulation of genes such as IL-6, K60, STAT3, STAT5 Pim1 and SOCS3; IKKα, IkB, P38, five cytokines IL-6, IL8, IL-1β, IL-18, and MIP-1β. Six important regulators of pulmonary artery vascular remodeling and construction like CYP1B1, ALDH7A1, MYLK, CAMK4, BMP7 and INOS were upregulated in the pulmonary artery of AS broilers. The pathology results showed that the pulmonary artery had remodeled and become thicker in the disease group.Conclusions/SignificanceOur present data suggested some specific components of the complex molecular circuitry regulating pulmonary arterial remodeling underlying AS progression in broilers. We revealed some valuable candidate genes and pathways that involved in pulmonary artery remodeling further contributing to the AS progression.

Transcriptome-based screening of intracellular pathways and angiogenesis related genes at different stages of thiram induced tibial lesions in broiler chickens

“…Formerly, it has already been reported that RPL17 gene might play a role in suppressing angiogenesis [32]. In addition, RPL17 found significantly downregulated in chicken, which causes remodeling through vascular smooth cell proliferation and inflammation [34].…”

A Multi-Omics Study of Chicken Infected by Nephropathogenic Infectious Bronchitis Virus

“…RNA preparation, library preparation, RNA-sequencing, and data analysis followed those of Yang et al [26]. First, total RNA was extracted from each kidney sample individually using TRIzol reagent (Invitrogen, Burlington, ON, Canada).…”

Dysregulated expression of microRNAs and mRNAs in pulmonary artery remodeling in ascites syndrome in broiler chickens

“…The 29 differentially expressed miRNAs and their predicted target genes are shown in Additional file 4 : table S4 ; each miRNA regulates no more than one target gene. We previously also performed mRNA sequencing analysis in the same pulmonary artery tissue samples used to perform miRNA analysis, and 895 differentially expressed genes in total were found between the pulmonary artery tissues from normal and AS broilers [ 21 ]. In this study, these total 895 differentially expressed genes were added to the candidate miRNAs that can regulate them, and those genes have a number of regulatory miRNAs ranging from zero to dozens ( Additional file 5 : table S5 ).…”