鸡性成熟启动前后下丘脑microRNA表达谱分析

Analysis of Hypothalamic microRNA Expression Profile during Chicken Puberty Onset

本研究旨在探讨miRNA在鸡性成熟启动调控中的作用。利用Solexa高通量测序技术检测了鸡性成熟启动前(Before puberty onset,BPO)和性成熟启动后(After puberty onset,APO)下丘脑中miRNA表达谱,通过生物信息学方法进行靶基因预测和功能分析。结果表明,在鸡下丘脑中鉴定出374个已知miRNAs、46个新miRNAs,144个已知miRNAs(reads>10)的表达水平在性成熟启动前后发生了显著改变(P<0.05)。5个差异表达miRNAs被qRT-PCR方法进一步验证。15个差异最显著miRNA(|log2(fold-change)|>2.0,P<0.01)预测到2 013个靶基因,GO富集和KEGG调节通路分析结果表明,这些差异表达miRNAs在性成熟启动转录调节和信号转导通路中发挥了重要作用。综上表明,miRNA是参与鸡性成熟启动新的调节因子。鉴于miRNA功能的保守性,该研究结果将为深入开展动物(包括人类)性成熟的分子调控机制研究提供新的理论依据。

The objective of this study was to investigate whether microRNAs play roles in puberty onset of the chicken.The Solexa deep sequencing was performed to analyze the miRNA expression profiles in the hypothalamus of hens before puberty onset（BPO）and after puberty onset（APO）.The target genes prediction and functional analysis were also carried out through bioinformatics method.374 conserved and 46 novel miRNAs were identified in the chicken hypothalamus.144 conserved miRNAs were differentially expressed（reads〉10,P〈0.05）from BPO to APO transition.2 013 putative genes were predicted as the targets of the 15 differentially expressed miRNAs（｜log2（fold-change）｜〉2.0,P〈0.01）.Functional analysis suggested that these 15 miRNAs played important roles in transcriptional regulation and signal transduction during puberty onset.The results suggest that miRNA as novel partner involve in chicken puberty onset.Considering the characteristics of miRNA functional conservation,the results will provide new theoretical base for studying the molecular regulation mechanism of animals puberty onset.