Jiayin Peng

Identification and Profiling of microRNAs in Goat Endometrium during Embryo Implantation

Background MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short, highly conserved small noncoding RNAs that had fundamental roles in post-transcriptional gene expression, and they are crucial for proper control of biological processes and known to participate in embryo implantation. However, miRNA expression profiles in the pre-receptive and receptive phases of the goat endometrium during embryo implantation are unknown. Results A total of 1,069 and 847 miRNAs were expressed in receptive (R) and pre-receptive (P) goat endometrium, and 632 miRNAs were co-expressed in both phases. We identified 545 (50.98%) known miRNAs in the R library and 522 (61.63%) in the P library. There were 110 up-expressed miRNAs and 33 down-expressed miRNAs in receptive endometrium compared with the pre-receptive endometrium meeting the criteria of P-values< 0.05. Moreover, GO and KEGG analysis of the target genes of the differentially expressed miRNAs revealed some candidate miRNAs, genes and pathways that may involve in the formation of the receptive endometrium. Based on stem-loop RT-qPCR, 15 miRNAs were detected and the results suggested that the majority of the miRNA expression data measured by Solexa deep sequencing could represent actual miRNA expression levels. Conclusions Our data revealed the first miRNA profile related to the biology of the goat receptive endometrium during embryo implantation, and the results suggested that a subset of miRNAs might play important roles in the formation of endometrial receptivity. Thus, elucidating the physiological roles of endometrial miRNAs will help us better understand the genetic control of embryo implantation in goats.

Identification and gene expression analyses of natriuretic peptide system in the ovary of goat (Capra hircus).

Natriuretic peptides (NPs) are involved in maintaining cardiovascular and fluid homeostasis, regulating reproductive processes and bone growth, and other numerous functions. To better understand the role of NPs in goat (Capra hircus), in the present study, full-length cDNAs of goat Nppa (natriuretic peptide precursor A), Nppb (natriuretic peptide precursor B) and Nppc (natriuretic peptide precursor C), respectively encoding ANP, BNP and CNP, were cloned from adult goat heart and ovary. The putative prepropeptide ANP (prepro-ANP) and prepro-CNP share a high amino acid sequence identity with other species. Real-time PCR showed that Nppa, Nppb and Nppc were widely expressed in adult goat tissues. The mRNA expression of Nppa and Nppb in the heart was extremely higher compared with other tissues. Nppc mRNA expression in the lung and uterus was also higher than in other tissues. The expression of Nppa, Nppb and Nppc genes was examined at different ovarian follicle stages using RT-PCR. The mRNAs of Nppa and Nppb were detected in secondary follicles as well as in COCs (cumulus-oocyte-complexes) and granulosa cells of antral follicles. However, the mRNA expression of Nppc was observed throughout ovarian follicle development, and it was especially higher in granulosa cells of antral follicles. In vitro, stimulating goat granulosa cells with FSH led to an increase in the expression of Nppc by dose- and time-dependent manners and a rapid decline was induced by LH stimulation, but the expression of Nppa and Nppb did not change after FSH or LH treatment. These results suggest that Nppc is a gonadotropin-induced gene in granulosa cells of goat ovary and CNP may be involved in the regulation of ovarian follicle development and oocyte maturation.

Characterization of the Transcriptional Complexity of the Receptive and Pre-receptive Endometria of Dairy Goats.

Endometrium receptivity is essential for successful embryo implantation in mammals. However, the lack of genetic information remains an obstacle to understanding the mechanisms underlying the development of a receptive endometrium from the pre-receptive phase in dairy goats. In this study, more than 4 billion high-quality reads were generated and de novo assembled into 102,441 unigenes; these unigenes were annotated using published databases. A total of 3,255 unigenes that were differentially expressed (DEGs) between the PE and RE were discovered in this study (P-values < 0.05). In addition, 76,729–77,102 putative SNPs and 12,837 SSRs were discovered in this study. Bioinformatics analysis of the DEGs revealed a number of biological processes and pathways that are potentially involved in the establishment of the RE, notably including the GO terms proteolysis, apoptosis, and cell adhesion and the KEGG pathways Cell cycle and extracellular matrix (ECM)-receptor interaction. We speculated that ADCY8, VCAN, SPOCK1, THBS1, and THBS2 may play important roles in the development of endometrial receptivity. The de novo assembly provided a good starting point and will serve as a valuable resource for further investigations into endometrium receptivity in dairy goats and future studies on the genomes of goats and other related mammals.

Expression and regulative function of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 3 in the goat ovary and its role in cultured granulosa cells.

Tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 3 (TIMP3) played a key role in female reproduction. However, its expression and function in goat are still unclear. In the present study, the full-length cDNA of goat TIMP3 was cloned from adult goat ovary; meanwhile, we demonstrated that putative TIMP3 protein shared a highly conserved amino acid sequence with known mammalian homologs. Real-time PCR results showed that TIMP3 was widely expressed in the tissues of adult goat. In the ovary, increasing expression of TIMP3 mRNA was discovered during the growth process of follicle and corpus luteum. Immunohistochemistry results suggested that TIMP3 protein existed in oocytes of all types of follicles, corpus luteum and granulosa and theca cells of primary, secondary, and antral but not primordial follicles. In vitro, human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) stimulated the expression of TIMP3 in goat granulosa cells. hCG-induced TIMP3 mRNA expression was reduced by the inhibitors of protein kinase A, protein kinase C, MAPK kinase, or p38 kinase. Functionally, over-expression of TIMP3 significantly increased apoptosis and decreased the viability of cultured granulosa cells. Knockdown of TIMP3 could decrease hCG-induced progesterone secretion and the mRNA abundance of key steroidogenic enzymes (StAR, p450scc and HSD3B) as well as ECM proteins (DCN and FN). These findings provided evidence that the hCG induced expression of TIMP3 may play an important role in regulating goat granulosa cell survival and steroidogenesis.

Isolation and characterisation of a novel antibacterial peptide from a native swine intestinal tract-derived bacterium

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are highly associated with antipathogenic activity, without generating drug resistance in targeted bacteria. In this study, the existence of AMPs in the Tibetan swine, a China-native, cold-resistant and seldom-sick breed of pig, was investigated. A peptide secreted by a Tibetan swine intestinal tract-derived Bacillus strain was isolated using reversed-phase chromatography (RPC), ultrafiltration and reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). The peptide was identified by mass spectrometry and was characterised for activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The 16-amino acid peptide (ASVVNKLTGGVAGLLK), named TP, had a molecular mass of 1568.919 Da and exhibited inhibitory activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria [minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of 2.5-5 µM and 10-20 µM for E. coli and S. aureus, respectively] as well as human MKN-45 and NB4 tumour cell lines [50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) = 4.686 µM and 11.479 µM, respectively]. TP also exhibited weak haemolytic activity. Furthermore, TP enhanced cell membrane permeability and K+ outflow, bound with E. coli genomic DNA in vitro and inhibited E. coli growth. Thus, TP represents a strong candidate as an antibacterial peptide.

Cloning and transcriptional activity of ovarian-specific promoter in dairy goats

Ovarian-specific promoter (OSP) is a tissue-specific promoter only expressed in the ovary to regulate its development. To investigate the activity of OSP in diverse dairy goat cells, OSP was cloned from dairy goat genome and used to construct the luciferase reporter vector pGL3-OSP to examine the transcriptional activity of OSP. Consequently, a 461-bp OSP fragment was obtained. Bioinformatics analysis indicated that the fragment contained multiple transcription factor binding sites, such as SRY, HSF, AP-1, C/EBP, CAAT, TATA, and so on, and the nucleotide sequence of OSP shared 99% and 97% similarity with those of OSP-1 and OSP-2 in rat. In addition, two variants were identified in the OSP (g.164T was deletion and g.375T<C). In diverse cells, the expression of luciferase in ovarian granulosa cells (GCs) and stromal cells of ovarian cortex was extremely significantly higher than that in fetal fibroblasts and oviduct epithelial cells. Meanwhile, the expression of luciferase in ovarian GCs was extremely significantly higher than that in the stromal cells of ovarian cortex. In summary, we successfully extracted dairy goat OSP and identified its transcriptional activity, which in part shed light on the study of ovarian-specific transcription and provided further insights into the development and regulation of dairy goats ovary as well.