Cloning, sequence identification, and tissue expression analysis of novel chicken NYGGF4 gene

NYGGF4 is a recently discovered gene that is involved in obesity-associated insulin resistance. In this study, an Hi-Line Brown chicken homolog of the NYGGF4 gene was cloned, sequenced, and characterized. The NYGGF4 full-length coding sequence (CDS) consists of 654 bp and encodes 217 amino acids with a molecular mass of 25,00 kD. The phosphotyrosine binding (PTB) domain of NYGGF4 is well conserved between chicken and other animals. The three-dimensional structure of the NYGGF4 (57-192 AA) by homology modeling was similar to that of human FE65-PTB1 domain. The phylogenetic tree analysis revealed that the chicken NYGGF4 has closer genetic relationships and evolution distance with the land mammals NYGGF4. Several predicted microRNA target sites were found in the coding sequence of chicken NYGGF4 mRNA. Analysis by RT-PCR showed that the NYGGF4 transcript is constitutively expressed in the 11 tissues tested: liver, subcutaneous fat, kidney, muscle stomach, heart, skin, brain, small intestine, spleen, lung, and skeletal muscle. These data serve as a foundation for further insight into the chicken NYGGF4 gene.