Bta-miR-124a Affects Lipid Metabolism by Regulating PECR Gene

DUSP6 protein action and related hub genes prevention of sepsis-induced lung injury were screened by WGCNA and Venn

During a sepsis infection, the lung is extremely susceptible to damage. A condition known as acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) may develop in extreme circumstances. The primary objective of this research is to identify important genes that are related with both sepsis and lung injury. These genes have the potential to act as novel biomarkers in the investigation of sepsis-induced lung injury prevention strategies. It was possible to download from GEO data both the sepsis-related dataset (GSE64457) and the lung injury-related dataset (GSE40839). In the GSE64457 dataset, using the "limma" package in R revealed 429 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) with logFC values more than or equal to -1 and p values <0.05. There were 266 genes that were up-regulated and 163 genes that were down-regulated. Through the use of Gene Ontology (GO), it was discovered that the majority of the DEGs were associated with the inflammatory response (BP terms), a particular granule lumen (CC terms), and protein binding (MF terms). By doing a pathway enrichment analysis using the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), researchers were able to identify DEGs that were mostly associated with the NOD-like receptor signalling pathway, the TNF signalling pathway, and Epstein-Barr virus infection. Within the GSE40839 dataset, Weighted Gene Co-Expression Network Analysis (WGCNA) yielded a total of 7 modules, from which it was possible to screen out 2 critical modules and 693 key genes. The important genes and DEGs were both subjected to a Venn analysis. Finally, 14 genes that overlapped (ARL4A, LAIR1, MTHFD2, TSPAN13, DUSP6, PECR, CBS, TES, ASNS, SYNE1, FGF13, LCN2, KLF10, BCAT1) were closely associated to the incidence and development of sepsis-induced lung injury. This indicates that these genes are the essential genes to avoid the occurrence of sepsis-induced lung injury. This study provides novel strategies for preventing lung harm brought on by sepsis.

Synergistic Responses of Tibetan Sheep Rumen Microbiota, Metabolites, and the Host to the Plateau Environment

Plateau adaptation in animals involves genetic mechanisms as well as coevolutionary mechanisms of the microbiota and metabolome of the animal. Therefore, the characteristics of the rumen microbiome and metabolome, transcriptome, and serum metabolome of Tibetan sheep at different altitudes (4500 m, 3500 m, and 2500 m) were analyzed. The results showed that the rumen differential metabolites at 3500 m and 4500 m were mainly enriched in amino acid metabolism, lipid metabolism, and carbohydrate metabolism, and there was a significant correlation with microbiota. The differentially expressed genes and metabolites at middle and high altitudes were coenriched in asthma, arachidonic acid metabolism, and butanoate and propanoate metabolism. In addition, the serum differential metabolites at 3500 m and 4500 m were mainly enriched in amino acid metabolism, lipid metabolism, and metabolism of xenobiotics by cytochrome P450, and they were also related to microbiota. Further analysis revealed that rumen metabolites accounted for 7.65% of serum metabolites. These common metabolites were mainly enriched in metabolic pathways and were significantly correlated with host genes (p < 0.05). This study found that microbiota, metabolites, and epithelial genes were coenriched in pathways related to lipid metabolism, energy metabolism, and immune metabolism, which may be involved in the regulation of Tibetan sheep adaptation to plateau environmental changes.

Progress in epigenetic regulation of milk synthesis, with particular emphasis on mRNA regulation and DNA methylation

Inadequate milk secretion and a lack of nutrients in humans and mammals are serious problems. It is of great significance to clarify the mechanisms of milk synthesis and treatment methods. Epigenetic modification, represented by RNA methylation, is an important way of gene expression regulation that profoundly affects human gene expression and participates in various physiological and pathological mechanisms. Epigenetic disorders also have an important impact on the production and secretion of milk. This review systematically summarized the research results of epigenetics in the process of lactation in PubMed, Web of Science, NSTL, and other databases and reviewed the effects of epigenetics on human and mammalian lactation, including miRNAs, circRNAs, lncRNAs, DNA methylations, and RNA methylations. The abnormal expression of miRNAs was closely related to the synthesis and secretion of milk fat, milk protein, and other nutrients in the milk of cattle, sheep, and other mammals. MiRNAs are also involved in the synthesis of human milk and the secretion of nutrients. CircRNAs and lncRNAs mainly target miRNAs and regulate the synthesis of nutrients in milk by ceRNA mechanisms. The abnormal expression of DNA and RNA methylation also has an important impact on milk synthesis. Epigenetic modification has the potential to regulate the milk synthesis of breast epithelial cells. Analyzing the mechanisms of human and mammalian milk secretion deficiency and nutrient deficiency from the perspective of epigenetics will provide a new perspective for the treatment of postpartum milk deficiency in pregnant women and mammalian milk secretion deficiency.

Peroxisomal trans-2-enoyl-CoA inhibits proliferation, migration and invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma cells

OBJECTIVES

Peroxisomal trans-2-enoyl-CoA reductase (PECR) encodes proteins related to fatty acid metabolism and synthesis. It has been confirmed that PECR has decreased expression in colon cancer and breast cancer, while the role of PECR in liver cancer is unknown. We aimed to study the role and mechanism of PECR in the genesis and development of liver cancer.

METHODS

In this study, the expression of PECR was queried in the Cancer Genome Atlas Database and Western Blotting and RT-PCR experiments were carried out in paired liver cancer tissues to detect the expression of PECR. Functional tests were evaluated by cell count kit-8 (CCK-8), Flow cytometry, wound healing assay, Transwell, migration. In vivo study, we constructed a nude mouse tumorigenic model to observe the effect of PECR on the proliferation of liver cancer. And the tumor body of the mouse was taken out for histochemistry (IHC). Multiple Cox regression was used to analyze the correlation between PECR and Clinicopathology.

RESULTS

We confirmed that the overexpression of PECR inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma and promoted the apoptosis of hepatocellular carcinoma. The low expression group of PECR promoted the proliferation and metastasis of liver cancer. In vivo, overexpression of PECR inhibits the proliferation of mouse tumors. In addition, the mechanism study shows that PECR may indirectly affect the proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma cells through ERK pathway.

CONCLUSION

In general, PECR may be a new diagnostic marker and a potential therapeutic target for hepatocellular carcinoma.

MicroRNAs in Ruminants and Their Potential Role in Nutrition and Physiology

The knowledge of how diet choices, dietary supplements, and feed intake influence molecular mechanisms in ruminant nutrition and physiology to maintain ruminant health, is essential to attain. In the present review, we focus on the role of microRNAs in ruminant health and disease; additionally, we discuss the potential of circulating microRNAs as biomarkers of disease in ruminants and the state of technology for their detection, also considering the major difficulties in the transition of biomarker development from bench to clinical practice. MicroRNAs are an inexhaustible class of endogenous non-protein coding small RNAs of 18 to 25 nucleotides that target either the 3' untranslated (UTR) or coding region of genes, ensuring a tight post-transcriptionally controlled regulation of gene expression. The development of new "omics" technologies facilitated a fresh perspective on the nutrition-to-gene relationship, incorporating more extensive data from molecular genetics, animal nutrition, and veterinary sciences. MicroRNAs might serve as important regulators of metabolic processes and may present the inter-phase between nutrition and gene regulation, controlled by the diet. The development of biomarkers holds the potential to revolutionize veterinary practice through faster disease detection, more accurate ruminant health monitoring, enhanced welfare, and increased productivity. Finally, we summarize the latest findings on how microRNAs function as biomarkers, how technological paradigms are reshaping this field of research, and how platforms are being used to identify novel biomarkers. Numerous studies have demonstrated a connection between circulating microRNAs and ruminant diseases such as mastitis, tuberculosis, foot-and-mouth disease, fasciolosis, and metabolic disorders. Therefore, the identification and analysis of a small number of microRNAs can provide crucial information about the stage of a disease, etiology, and prognosis.

Bta-miR-33a affects gene expression and lipid levels in Chinese Holstein mammary epithelial cells

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are non-coding single-stranded RNA molecules of about 19-25 nucleotides in length that regulate different biological processes, including lipid metabolism. In this study, we explored the effect of bta-miR-33a on lipid metabolism in bovine mammary epithelial cells (BMECs) of Chinese Holstein for the first time. For this purpose, the plasmids of bta-miR-33a mimic, bta-miR-33a inhibitor and bta-miR-33a negative control were constructed to overexpress or repress bta-miR-33a in BMECs. The effects of plasmid transfection were analysed by examining the mRNA and protein expression levels of ELOVL6 and the intracellular triglycerides. The results showed that bta-miR-33a directly inhibited the expression of ELOVL6 in BMECs; decreased the mRNA levels of ELOVL5, HACD2, CPT1A and MSMO1; and increased the mRNA level of ALOX15. Sequence bta-miR-33a also increased the contents of triglycerides in the cells, presumably as a consequence of these gene expression changes. In summary, the results of the present study suggest that bta-miR-33a regulates lipid metabolism by targeting ELOVL6, which might be a potential molecular marker of milk fat composition.

The Role of microRNAs in the Mammary Gland Development, Health, and Function of Cattle, Goats, and Sheep

Milk is an integral and therefore complex structural element of mammalian nutrition. Therefore, it is simple to conclude that lactation, the process of producing milk, is as complex as the mammary gland, the organ responsible for this biochemical activity. Nutrition, genetics, epigenetics, disease pathogens, climatic conditions, and other environmental variables all impact breast productivity. In the last decade, the number of studies devoted to epigenetics has increased dramatically. Reports are increasingly describing the direct participation of microRNAs (miRNAs), small noncoding RNAs that regulate gene expression post-transcriptionally, in the regulation of mammary gland development and function. This paper presents a summary of the current state of knowledge about the roles of miRNAs in mammary gland development, health, and functions, particularly during lactation. The significance of miRNAs in signaling pathways, cellular proliferation, and the lipid metabolism in agricultural ruminants, which are crucial in light of their role in the nutrition of humans as consumers of dairy products, is discussed.

Progress on the Regulation of Ruminant Milk Fat by Noncoding RNAs and ceRNAs

Milk fat is not only a key factor affecting the quality of fresh milk but also a major target trait forbreeding. The regulation of milk fat involves multiple genes, network regulation and signal transduction. To explore recent discoveries of pathway regulation, we reviewed the published literature with a focus on functional noncoding RNAs and epigenetic regulation in ruminants. Results indicate that miRNAs play key roles in the regulation of milk fat synthesis and catabolism in ruminants. Although few data are available, merging evidence indicates that lncRNAs and circRNAs act on milk fat related genes through indirect action with microRNAs or RNAs in the ceRNA network to elicit positive effects on transcription. Although precise regulatory mechanisms remain unclear, most studies have focused on the regulation of the function of target genes through functional noncoding RNAs. Data to help identify factors that can regulate their own expression and function or to determine whether self-regulation involves positive and/or negative feedback are needed. Despite the growing body of research on the role of functional noncoding RNA in the control of ruminant milk fat, most data are still not translatable for field applications. Overall, the understanding of mechanisms whereby miRNA, lncRNA, circRNA, and ceRNA regulate ruminant milk fat remains an exciting area of research.