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Introduction: Muscle glycolytic potential (GP) is a key factor affecting multiple meat quality traits. It is calculated based on the contents of residual glycogen and glucose (RG), glucose-6-phosphate (G6P), and lactate (LAT) contents in muscle. However, the genetic mechanism of glycolytic metabolism in skeletal muscle of pigs remains poorly understood. With a history of more than 400 years and some unique characteristics, the Erhualian pig is called the "giant panda" (very precious) in the world's pig species by Chinese animal husbandry. Methods: Here, we performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) using 1.4M single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) chips for longissimus RG, G6P, LAT, and GP levels in 301 purebred Erhualian pigs. Results: We found that the average GP value of Erhualian was unusually low (68.09 µmol/g), but the variation was large (10.4-112.7 µmol/g). The SNP-based heritability estimates for the four traits ranged from 0.16-0.32. In total, our GWAS revealed 31 quantitative trait loci (QTLs), including eight for RG, nine for G6P, nine for LAT, five for GP. Of these loci, eight were genome-wide significant (p < 3.8 × 10-7), and six loci were common to two or three traits. Multiple promising candidate genes such as FTO, MINPP1, RIPOR2, SCL8A3, LIFR and SRGAP1 were identified. The genotype combinations of the five GP-associated SNPs also showed significant effect on other meat quality traits. Discussion: These results not only provide insights into the genetic architecture of GP related traits in Erhualian, but also are useful for pig breeding programs involving this breed.
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OBJECTIVES: To investigate the protective effect of glycyrrhizin (GL) on hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury (HIRI). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty SD rats were randomly divided into sham group, HIRI group, GL 100 mg/kg group, and GL 200 mg/kg group. The pathological alterations of liver tissue in each group were observed. The levels of alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), endothelin-1 (ET-l), nitric oxide (NO), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß), interleukin-6 (IL-6), superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA), and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) were detected. Western blot was used to detect the expression levels of cytoplasmic protein caspase-3, Bax, Bcl-2, heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), and nuclear protein Nrf2. RESULTS: Compared with the HIRI group, the levels of AST, ALT, ET-1, TNF-α, IL-1ß, and IL-6 in GL groups were lower, serum NO content was higher, MDA content was lower, SOD and GSH-Px activities were significantly increased, apoptosis index was lower (P<0.05), which was more obvious in high-dose GL (200 mg/kg) group. The LC3-II/LC3-I ratio and Beclin-1 protein expression levels in the GL group were significantly lower than the HIRI group, but the expression levels of cytoplasmic protein HO-1 and nuclear protein Nrf2 were significantly higher than those of the HIRI group, which was more obvious in the high-dose GL group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: GL has a protective effect on the liver of HIRI rats, and its mechanism may be related to activation of the Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway, inhibition of oxidative stress, inflammation, autophagy, and apoptosis.
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BACKGROUND/AIMS: This study aimed to explore the expression of long non-coding RNA MSC-AS1 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells and its effect on the proliferation, migration, and apoptosis of HCC cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The expression of MSC-AS1 in HCC cell lines BEL7402, SMMC7721, Huh7, HepG2, MHCC97-H, and normal hepatocyte line L02 was detected by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. The HCC cells were divided into blank, negative control (NC)-small interfering RNA (siRNA) (transfected with negative siRNA), and MSC-AS1 siRNA (transfected with MSC-AS1 siRNA) groups. Cell counting kit-8 and colony formation assays were used to determine the proliferation, and cell apoptosis, migration, and invasion were detected by flow cytometry, wound healing, and transwell assays, respectively. Western blot was used to detect the expression of related proteins. RESULTS: The expression of MSC-AS1 in HCC cell lines was significantly higher than that in L02. In the MSC-AS1 siRNA group, the proliferation and colony formation of HCC cells were inhibited, whereas the apoptosis rate was significantly higher than that in the blank and NC-siRNA groups. The rate of wound healing and the number of invasion cells in the MSC-AS1 siRNA group were significantly lower than that in the blank and NC-siRNA groups. CONCLUSION: MSC-AS1 was upregulated in HCC cells, and the downregulation of MSC-AS1 could inhibit cell proliferation, migration, and invasion and promote apoptosis of HCC cells.
