• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.63 no.4
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• pp.934-953
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• 2021

Ciglitazone is a member of the thiazolidinedione family, and specifically binds to peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPARγ), thereby promoting adipocyte differentiation. We hypothesized that ciglitazone as a PPARγ ligand in the absence of an adipocyte differentiation cocktail would increase adiponectin and adipogenic gene expression in bovine satellite cells (BSC). Muscle-derived BSCs were isolated from six, 18-month-old Yanbian Yellow Cattle. The BSC were cultured for 96 h in differentiation medium containing 5 µM ciglitazone (CL), 10 µM ciglitazone (CM), or 20 µM ciglitazone (CH). Control (CON) BSC were cultured only in a differentiation medium (containing 2% horse serum). The presence of myogenin, desmin, and paired box 7 (Pax7) proteins was confirmed in the BSC by immunofluorescence staining. The CL, CM, and CH treatments produced higher concentrations of triacylglycerol and lipid droplet accumulation in myotubes than those of the CON treatment. Ciglitazone treatments significantly increased the relative expression of PPARγ, CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein alpha (C/EBPα), C/EBPβ, fatty acid synthase, stearoyl-CoA desaturase, and perilipin 2. Ciglitazone treatments increased gene expression of Pax3 and Pax7 and decreased expression of myogenic differentiation-1, myogenin, myogenic regulatory factor-5, and myogenin-4 (p < 0.01). Adiponectin concentration caused by ciglitazone treatments was significantly greater than CON (p < 0.01). RNA sequencing showed that 281 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were found in the treatments of ciglitazone. DEGs gene ontology (GO) analysis showed that the top 10 GO enrichment significantly changed the biological processes such as protein trimerization, negative regulation of cell proliferation, adipocytes differentiation, and cellular response to external stimulus. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analysis showed that DEGs were involved in the p53 signaling pathway, PPAR signaling pathway, biosynthesis of amino acids, tumor necrosis factor signaling pathway, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, and Wnt signaling pathway. These results indicate that ciglitazone acts as PPARγ agonist, effectively increases the adiponectin concentration and adipogenic gene expression, and stimulates the conversion of BSC to adipocyte-like cells in the absence of adipocyte differentiation cocktail.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.29 no.7
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• pp.809-816
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• 2019

The ubiquitous plant metabolite p-coumaric acid (p-CA) has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, but its anti-cancer activity has not been established in gastric cancer cell lines. In this study, we investigated the effects of p-CA on the proliferation and transcriptome profile of SNU16 gastric cancer cells. Treatment with p-CA induced apoptosis of the SNU-16 cells by regulating the expression of pro-apoptotic and anti-apoptotic proteins, such as Bcl-2, poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), Bax, procaspase-3, and cleaved-caspase-3. The genes differentially expressed in response to p-CA treatment of the SNU-16 cells were identified by RNA sequencing analysis. Genes regulated by p-CA were involved mainly in the inflammatory response, apoptotic processes, cell cycle, and immune response. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis indicated that the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase-Akt and cancer signaling pathways were altered by p-CA. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis also revealed that p-CA treatment was correlated with differential expression of genes associated with the inflammatory response and cancer. Collectively, these results suggest that p-CA has potential utility in gastric cancer prevention.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.28-38
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• 2024

Objective: Tibetan chickens, which have unique adaptations to extreme high-altitude environments, exhibit phenotypic and physiological characteristics that are distinct from those of lowland chickens. However, the mechanisms underlying hypoxic adaptation in the liver of chickens remain unknown. Methods: RNA-sequencing (RNA-Seq) technology was used to assess the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) involved in hypoxia adaptation in highland chickens (native Tibetan chicken [HT]) and lowland chickens (Langshan chicken [LS], Beijing You chicken [BJ], Qingyuan Partridge chicken [QY], and Chahua chicken [CH]). Results: A total of 352 co-DEGs were specifically screened between HT and four native lowland chicken breeds. Gene ontology and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes enrichment analyses indicated that these co-DEGs were widely involved in lipid metabolism processes, such as the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPAR) signaling pathway, fatty acid degradation, fatty acid metabolism and fatty acid biosynthesis. To further determine the relationship from the 352 co-DEGs, protein-protein interaction network was carried out and identified eight genes (ACSL1, CPT1A, ACOX1, PPARC1A, SCD, ACSBG2, ACACA, and FASN) as the potential regulating genes that are responsible for the altitude difference between the HT and other four lowland chicken breeds. Conclusion: This study provides novel insights into the molecular mechanisms regulating hypoxia adaptation via lipid metabolism in Tibetan chickens and other highland animals.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.64 no.4
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• pp.422-431
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• 2019

Severe droughts in spring have occurred frequently in Korea in recent years, exerting a critical impact on corn yield. Therefore, it is necessary to find physiological and/or molecular indicators of the response to drought stress in maize plants. In this study, we investigated the effects of water-deficit stress on two Korean elite F₁ maize hybrids, Ilmichal and Gwangpyeongok, by withholding water for 10 days at tassel initiation. The water deficit drastically reduced the relative leaf water content, leaf number, leaf area, and stem length, leading to dry matter reduction. Moreover, it reduced the SPAD values and stomatal conductance of leaves in drought-stressed plants of both hybrids. Importantly, the number of leaves and SPAD value were non-destructive and easy to investigate in response to water-deficit stress, suggesting that they may be useful indicators for screening drought-tolerant genetic resources. We detected more than 100 spots that were differentially accumulated under drought stress. Of these spots, a total of 21 protein spots (≥1.5-fold) from drought-exposed maize leaves were successfully analyzed by MALDI-TOF-TOF mass spectrometry. Functional annotation using Gene Ontology analysis revealed that most of the identified proteins were involved in carbohydrate metabolism, stress response fatty acid catabolism, photosynthesis, energy metabolism, and transport. The protein expression levels were increased in both Ilmichal and Gwangpyeongok, except for triosephosphate isomerase, fructose-bisphosphate aldolase, and an uncharacterized protein. The lactoylglutathione lyase delta (3,5)-delta (2,4)-dienoyl-CoA isomerase was overexpressed in Gwangpyeongok only. The results obtained from this study suggest that the drought-specific genes may be useful as molecular markers for screening drought-tolerant maize genotypes.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.67 no.1
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• pp.41-52
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• 2022

As a cultivar of Korean wheat, 'Keumgang' wheat variety has a fast growth period and can be grown stably. Hexaploid wheat (Triticum aestivum) has moderately high salt tolerance compared to tetraploid wheat (Triticum turgidum L.). However, the molecular mechanisms related to salt tolerance of hexaploid wheat have not been elucidated yet. In this study, the candidate genes related to salt tolerance were identified by investigating the genes that are differently expressed in Keumgang variety and examining salt tolerant mutation '2020-s1340.'. A total of 85,771,537 reads were obtained after quality filtering using NextSeq 500 Illumina sequencing technology. A total of 23,634,438 reads were aligned with the NCBI Campala Lr22a pseudomolecule v5 reference genome (Triticum aestivum). A total of 282 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in the two Triticum aestivum materials. These DEGs have functions, including salt tolerance related traits such as 'wall-associated receptor kinase-like 8', 'cytochrome P450', '6-phosphofructokinase 2'. In addition, the identified DEGs were classified into three categories, including biological process, molecular function, cellular component using gene ontology analysis. These DEGs were enriched significantly for terms such as the 'copper ion transport', 'oxidation-reduction process', 'alternative oxidase activity'. These results, which were obtained using RNA-seq analysis, will improve our understanding of salt tolerance of wheat. Moreover, this study will be a useful resource for breeding wheat varieties with improved salt tolerance using molecular breeding technology.

• BMB Reports
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.757-764
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• 2007

Marbling of cattle meat is dependent on the coordinated expression of multiple genes. Cattle dramatically increase their intramuscular fat content in the longissimus dorsi muscle between 12 and 27 months of age. We used the annealing control primer (ACP)-differential display RT-PCR method to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) that may participate in the development of intramuscular fat between early (12 months old) and late fattening stages (27 months old). Using 20 arbitrary ACP primers, we identified and sequenced 14 DEGs. BLAST searches revealed that expression of the MDH, PI4-K, ferritin, ICER, NID-2, WDNMI, telethonin, filamin, and desmin (DES) genes increased while that of GAPD, COP VII, ACTA1, CamK II, and nebulin decreased during the late fattening stage. The results of functional categorization using the Gene Ontology database for 14 known genes indicated that MDH, GAPD, and COP VII are involved in metabolic pathways such as glycolysis and the TCA cycle, whereas telethonin, filamin, nebulin, desmin, and ACTA1 contribute to the muscle contractile apparatus, and PI4-K, CamK II, and ICER have roles in signal transduction pathways regulated by growth factor or hormones. The final three genes, NID-2, WDNMI, and ferritin, are involved in iron transport and extracellular protein inhibition. The expression patterns were confirmed for seven genes (MDH, PI4-K, ferritin, ICER, nebulin, WDNMI, and telethonin) using real-time PCR. We found that the novel transcription repressor ICER gene was highly expressed in the late fattening stage and during bovine preadipocyte differentiation. This information may be helpful in selecting candidate genes that participate in intramuscular fat development in cattle.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.343-351
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• 2016

Although the chemical, physical, and nutritional properties of bovine milk have been extensively studied, only a few studies have attempted to characterize milk-synthesizing genes using RNA-seq data. RNA-seq data was collected from 21 Holstein samples, along with group information about milk production ability; milk yield; and protein, fat, and solid contents. Meta-analysis was employed in order to generally characterize genes related to milk production. In addition, we attempted to investigate the relationship between milk related traits, parity, and lactation period. We observed that milk fat is highly correlated with lactation period; this result indicates that this effect should be considered in the model in order to accurately detect milk production related genes. By employing our developed model, 271 genes were significantly (false discovery rate [FDR] adjusted p-value<0.1) detected as milk production related differentially expressed genes. Of these genes, five (albumin, nitric oxide synthase 3, RNA-binding region (RNP1, RRM) containing 3, secreted and transmembrane 1, and serine palmitoyltransferase, small subunit B) were technically validated using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) in order to check the accuracy of RNA-seq analysis. Finally, 83 gene ontology biological processes including several blood vessel and mammary gland development related terms, were significantly detected using DAVID gene-set enrichment analysis. From these results, we observed that detected milk production related genes are highly enriched in the circulation system process and mammary gland related biological functions. In addition, we observed that detected genes including caveolin 1, mammary serum amyloid A3.2, lingual antimicrobial peptide, cathelicidin 4 (CATHL4), cathelicidin 6 (CATHL6) have been reported in other species as milk production related gene. For this reason, we concluded that our detected 271 genes would be strong candidates for determining milk production.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.128-135
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• 2020

Background: Classical acupuncture is being used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). To explore the biological response to acupuncture, a network-based analysis was performed on gene expression data collected from an animal model of RA treated with acupuncture. Methods: Gene expression data were obtained from published microarray studies on blood samples from rats with collagen induced arthritis (CIA) and non-CIA rats, both treated with manual acupuncture. The weighted gene co-expression network analysis was performed to identify gene clusters expressed in association with acupuncture treatment time and RA status. Gene ontology and pathway analyses were applied for functional annotation and network visualization. Results: A cluster of 347 genes were identified that differentially downregulated expression in association with acupuncture treatment over time; specifically in rats with CIA with module-RA correlation at 1 hour after acupuncture (-0.27; p < 0.001) and at 34 days after acupuncture (-0.33; p < 0.001). Functional annotation showed highly significant enrichment of porphyrin-containing compound biosynthetic processes (p < 0.001). The network-based analysis also identified a module of 140 genes differentially expressed between CIA and non-CIA in rats (p < 0.001). This cluster of genes was enriched for antigen processing and presentation of exogenous peptide antigen (p < 0.001). Other functional gene clusters previously reported in earlier studies were also observed. Conclusion: The identified gene expression networks and their hub-genes could help with the understanding of mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of RA, as well understanding the effects of acupuncture treatment of RA.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.595-606
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• 2018

Objective: The Fusarium mycotoxins of deoxynivalenol (DON) and zerolenone (ZEN) cause health hazards for both humans and farm animals. Therefore, the main intention of this study was to reveal DON and ZEN effects on the mRNA expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines and other immune related genes in the liver of piglets. Methods: In the present study, 15 six-week-old piglets were randomly assigned to the following three different dietary treatments for 4 weeks: control diet, diet containing 8 mg DON/kg feed, and diet containing 0.8 mg ZEN/kg feed. After 4 weeks, liver samples were collected and sequenced using RNA-Seq to investigate the effects of the mycotoxins on genes and gene networks associated with the immune systems of the piglets. Results: Our analysis identified a total of 249 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), which included 99 upregulated and 150 downregulated genes in both the DON and ZEN dietary treatment groups. After biological pathway analysis, the DEGs were determined to be significantly enriched in gene ontology terms associated with many biological pathways, including immune response and cellular and metabolic processes. Consistent with inflammatory stimulation due to the mycotoxin-contaminated diet, the following Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes pathways, which were related to disease and immune responses, were found to be enriched in the DEGs: allograft rejection pathway, cell adhesion molecules, graft-versus-host disease, autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD), type I diabetes mellitus, human T-cell leukemia lymphoma virus infection, and viral carcinogenesis. Genome-wide expression analysis revealed that DON and ZEN treatments downregulated the expression of the majority of the DEGs that were associated with inflammatory cytokines (interleukin 10 receptor, beta, chemokine [C-X-C motif] ligand 9), proliferation (insulin-like growth factor 1, major facilitator superfamily domain containing 2A, insulin-like growth factor binding protein 2, lipase G, and salt inducible kinase 1), and other immune response networks (paired immunoglobulin-like type 2 receptor beta, Src-like-adaptor-1 [SLA1], SLA3, SLA5, SLA7, claudin 4, nicotinamide N-methyltransferase, thyrotropin-releasing hormone degrading enzyme, ubiquitin D, histone $H_2B$ type 1, and serum amyloid A). Conclusion: In summary, our results demonstrated that high concentrations DON and ZEN disrupt immune-related processes in the liver.

• Genes and Genomics
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• v.40 no.12
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• pp.1351-1361
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• 2018

A new cold tolerant germplasm resource named glutinous rice 89-1 (Gr89-1, Oryza sativa L.) can overwinter using axillary buds, with these buds being ratooned the following year. The overwintering seedling rate (OSR) is an important factor for evaluating cold tolerance. Many quantitative trait loci (QTLs) controlling cold tolerance at different growth stages in rice have been identified, with some of these QTLs being successfully cloned. However, no QTLs conferring to the OSR trait have been located in the perennial O. sativa L. To identify QTLs associated with OSR and to evaluate cold tolerance. 286 $F_{12}$ recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from a cross between the cold tolerant variety Gr89-1 and cold sensitive variety Shuhui527 (SH527) were used. A total of 198 polymorphic simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers that were distributed uniformly on 12 chromosomes were used to construct the linkage map. The gene ontology (GO) annotation of the major QTL was performed through the rice genome annotation project system. Three main-effect QTLs (qOSR2, qOSR3, and qOSR8) were detected and mapped on chromosomes 2, 3, and 8, respectively. These QTLs were located in the interval of RM14208 (35,160,202 base pairs (bp))-RM208 (35,520,147 bp), RM218 (8,375,236 bp)-RM232 (9,755,778 bp), and RM5891 (24,626,930 bp)-RM23608 (25,355,519 bp), and explained 19.6%, 9.3%, and 11.8% of the phenotypic variations, respectively. The qOSR2 QTL displayed the largest effect, with a logarithm of odds score (LOD) of 5.5. A total of 47 candidate genes on the qOSR2 locus were associated with 219 GO terms. Among these candidate genes, 11 were related to cell membrane, 7 were associated with cold stress, and 3 were involved in response to stress and biotic stimulus. OsPIP1;3 was the only one candidate gene related to stress, biotic stimulus, cold stress, and encoding a cell membrane protein. After QTL mapping, a total of three main-effect QTLs-qOSR2, qOSR3, and qOSR8-were detected on chromosomes 2, 3, and 8, respectively. Among these, qOSR2 explained the highest phenotypic variance. All the QTLs elite traits come from the cold resistance parent Gr89-1. OsPIP1;3 might be a candidate gene of qOSR2.