Transcriptome analysis of adipose tissue in grazing cattle: Identifying key regulators of fat metabolism.

The taste and tenderness of meat are the main determinants of carcass quality in many countries. This study aimed to discuss the mechanisms of intramuscular fat deposition in grazing and house-breeding cattle. We performed transcriptome analysis to characterize messenger RNA and microRNA (miRNA) expression profiles. A total of 456 and 66 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and differentially expressed (DE) miRNAs were identified in the adipose tissue of grazing and house-breeding cattle. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analysis identified the association of DEGs with fatty acid metabolism, fatty acid degradation, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors signaling pathway, adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase signaling pathway, adipocytokine signaling pathway, and the association of DE miRNAs with mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway. Apolipoprotein L domain containing 1, pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 4, and sphingosine-1-phosphate lyase 1 genes may be the key regulators of fat metabolism in grazing cattle. Finally, we found that miR-211 and miR-331-5p were negatively correlated with the elongation of very long-chain fatty acids protein 6 (ELOVL6), and miR-331-5p might be the new regulator involved in fat metabolism. The results indicated that ELOVL6 participated in various functions and pathways related to fat metabolism. Meanwhile, miR-331-5p, as a new regulator, might play an essential role in this process. Our findings laid a more in-depth and systematic research foundation for the formation mechanism and characteristics of adipose tissue in grazing cattle.

Exploring the formation mechanism of ferulic acid/hydroxypropyl-ß-cyclodextrin inclusion complex: spectral analyses and computer simulation.

BACKGROUND: The biological functions of ferulic acid (FA) have garnered significant interest but its limited solubility and stability have led to low bioavailability. Hydroxypropyl-ß-cyclodextrin (HP-ß-CD), with its distinctive hollow structure, offers the potential for encapsulating hydrophobic molecules. The formation of an inclusion complex between FA and HP-ß-CD may therefore be a viable approach to address the inherent limitations of FA. To investigate the underlying mechanism of the FA/HP-ß-CD inclusion complex formation, a combination of spectral analyses and computer simulation was employed. RESULTS: The disappearance of the characteristic peaks of FA in Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirmed the formation of an inclusion complex between FA and HP-ß-CD. Thermogravimetry-derivative thermogravimetry (TG-DTG) studies demonstrated that the thermal stability of FA was enhanced due to the encapsulation of FA within HP-ß-CD. Molecular dynamics simulation also provided evidence that FA successfully penetrated the HP-ß-CD cavity, primarily driven by van der Waals interactions. The formation of the complex resulted in more compact HP-ß-CD structures. The bioavailability of FA was also strengthened through the formation of inclusion complexes with HP-ß-CD. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study have contributed to a deeper understanding of the interactions between FA and HP-ß-CD, potentially advancing a delivery system for FA and enhancing the bioavailability of insoluble active components. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.

The Characterization of Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue in Sunit Sheep at Different Growth Stages: A Comprehensive Analysis of the Morphology, Fatty Acid Profile, and Metabolite Profile.

Adipose tissue is a crucial economically significant trait that significantly influences the meat quality and growth performance of domestic animals. To reveal the changes in adipose tissue metabolism during the growth of naturally grazing sheep, we evaluated the thickness, adipocyte morphology, fatty acid profile, and metabolite profile of subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) from naturally grazing Sunit sheep at 6, 18, and 30 months of age (referred to as Mth-6, Mth-18, and Mth-30, respectively). The fat thickness and adipocyte number were significantly increased with the growth of the sheep (p < 0.05), and the increase of which from Mth-18 to Mth-30 was less than that from Mth-6 to Mth-18. Additionally, the alpha-linolenic acid metabolism was enhanced and fatty acid (FA) elongation increased with growth. The metabolomic analysis revealed 76 differentially expressed metabolites (DEMs) in the SAT in different growth stages. Interestingly, we observed elongation of FAs in lipids correlated with sheep growth. Furthermore, the expression of acylcarnitines was downregulated, and fatty acid amides, aspartic acid, acetic acid and phosphocholine were upregulated in Mth-18 and Mth-30 compared to Mth-6. Altogether, the study found that the difference in SAT in Mth-6 was great compared to Mth-18 and Mth-30. An increase in fat deposition via adipocyte proliferation with the growth of the sheep in naturally grazing. The DEMs of acylcarnitines, fatty acid amides, aspartic acid, acetic acid, and phosphocholine emerged as potential key regulators of adipose tissue metabolism. These findings illustrate the variation in and metabolic mechanism of sheep adipose tissue development under natural grazing, thus providing valuable insights into improving the edible quality of sheep meat and developing the mutton sheep industry.

Integrated Transcriptome Analysis of miRNAs and mRNAs in the Skeletal Muscle of Wuranke Sheep.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are regarded as important regulators in skeletal muscle development. To reveal the regulatory roles of miRNAs and their target mRNAs underlying the skeletal muscle development of Wuranke sheep, we investigated the miRNA and mRNA expression profiles in the biceps femoris of these sheep at the fetal (3 months of gestation) and 3- and 15-month-old postnatal stages. Consequently, a total of 1195 miRNAs and 24,959 genes were identified. Furthermore, 474, 461, and 54 differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs) and 6783, 7407, and 78 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were detected among three comparative groups. Functional analysis demonstrated that the target mRNAs of the DEMs were enriched in multiple pathways related to muscle development. Moreover, the interactions among several predicted miRNA-mRNA pairs (oar-miR-133-HDAC1, oar-miR-1185-5p-MYH1/HADHA/OXCT1, and PC-5p-3703_578-INSR/ACTG1) that potentially affect skeletal muscle development were verified using dual-luciferase reporter assays. In this study, we identified the miRNA and mRNA differences in the skeletal muscle of Wuranke sheep at different developmental stages and revealed that a series of candidate miRNA-mRNA pairs may act as modulators of muscle development. These results will contribute to future studies on the function of miRNAs and their target mRNAs during skeletal muscle development in Wuranke sheep.

Development of chemically defined media for Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis YF11 to eliminate the influence of hyperosmotic stress.

Chemically defined media (CDM) can eliminate or lessen the interference that occurs in complex culture media (CCM) caused by the undefined substrate pools, and various CDM have been designed and employed for investigating microbial physiology and multiomics. Herein, using the measured amount of total amino acids in CCM and combined with the in vivo and in vitro amino acid content of Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis YF11, new enriched CDM were designed and then optimized using a statistical design-of-experiment method coupling with fed-batch fermentation to eliminate or lessen the influence of hyperosmotic pressure. Cell volume was introduced as a target index to assess the performance of CDM, and average osmotic pressure (AOP) was employed to describe the osmotic pressure of CDM. The AOP was significantly decreased from 610 mOsm/kg·H2O in the initial CDM (I-CDM) to 360 mOsm/kg·H2O in fed-batch CDM (F-CDM), and the cell volume was increased from 0.142 ± 0.004 µm3 in I-CDM to 0.198 ± 0.008 µm3 in F-CDM, which was close to 0.206 ± 0.005 µm3 found in CCM, indicating that the strategy of designing and improving CDM followed by a statistical design-of-experiment coupling with fed-batch cultivation presented a promising pathway for extensive utilization of CDM. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13205-023-03788-5.

MicroRNA and circular RNA profiling in the deposited fat tissue of Sunite sheep.

As the most typical deposited fat, tail fat is an important energy reservoir for sheep adapted to harsh environments and plays an important role as a raw material in daily life. However, the regulatory mechanisms of microRNA (miRNA) and circular RNA (circRNA) in tail fat development remain unclear. In this study, we characterized the miRNA and circRNA expression profiles in the tail fat of sheep at the ages of 6, 18, and 30 months. We identified 219 differentially expressed (DE) miRNAs (including 12 novel miRNAs), which exhibited a major tendency to be downregulated, and 198 DE circRNAs, which exhibited a tendency to be upregulated. Target gene prediction analysis was performed for the DE miRNAs. Functional analysis revealed that their target genes were mainly involved in cellular interactions, while the host genes of DE circRNAs were implicated in lipid and fatty acid metabolism. Subsequently, we established a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network based on the negative regulatory relationship between miRNAs and target genes. The network revealed that upregulated miRNAs play a leading role in the development of tail fat. Finally, the ceRNA relationship network with oar-miR-27a_R-1 and oar-miR-29a as the core was validated, suggesting possible involvement of these interactions in tail fat development. In summary, DE miRNAs were negatively correlated with DE circRNAs during sheep tail fat development. The multiple ceRNA regulatory network dominated by upregulated DE miRNAs may play a key role in this developmental process.

Transcriptome analysis of messenger RNA and long noncoding RNA related to different developmental stages of tail adipose tissues of sunite sheep.

The tail fat of sheep is the most typical deposited fat, and it can be widely used in human daily life, such as diet, cosmetics, and industrial raw materials. To understand the potential regulatory mechanism of different growth stages of tail fat in Sunite sheep, we performed high-throughput RNA sequencing to characterize the long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) and messenger RNA (mRNA) expression profiles of the sheep tail fat at the age of 6, 18, and 30 months. A total of 223 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and 148 differentially expressed lncRNAs were found in the tail fat of 6-, 18-, and 30-month-old sheep. Based on functional analysis, we found that fat-related DEGs were mainly expressed at 6 months of age and gradually decreased at 18 and 30 months of age. The target gene prediction analysis shows that most of the lncRNAs target more than 20 mRNAs as their transregulators. Further, we obtained several fat-related differentially expressed target genes; these target genes interact with different differentially expressed lncRNAs at various ages and play an important role in the development of tail fat. Based on the DEGs and differentially expressed lncRNAs, we established three co-expression networks for each comparison group. Finally, we concluded that the development of the sheep tail fat is more active during the early stage of growth and gradually decreases with the increase in age. The mutual regulation of lncRNAs and mRNAs may play a key role in this complex biological process.

Nutritive composition of Tarag, the traditional naturally-fermented goat milk in China.

Nutritive compositions were analyzed in 10 batches of samples of Tarag (the traditional naturally-fermented goat milk), which were collected in the Mongolian community in China. Results showed that Tarag had richer nutrients than yoghurt. Tarag-2 (from Zang goats) had better chemical nutrient density than Tarag-1 (from Chaidamu goats). Tarag was rich in casein, lactoferrin, serum albumin, ß-lactoglobulin, α-lactalbumin, and 3 unknown fractions in certain samples. Microbiological enumeration revealed that Tarag contained large lactic acid bacteria and yeast. Tarag was judged nutritious and indicated the latent value for people's health.