Comprehensive transcriptional profiling of aging porcine liver

Aging is a major risk factor for the development of many diseases, and the liver, as the most important metabolic organ, is significantly affected by aging. It has been shown that the liver weight tends to increase in rodents and decrease in humans with age. Pigs have a genomic structure, with physiological as well as biochemical features that are similar to those of humans, and have therefore been used as a valuable model for studying human diseases. The molecular mechanisms of the liver aging of large mammals on a comprehensive transcriptional level remain poorly understood. The pig is an ideal model animal to clearly and fully understand the molecular mechanism underlying human liver aging.

In this study, four healthy female Yana pigs (an indigenous Chinese breed) were investigated: two young sows (180-days-old) and two old sows (8-years-old). High throughput RNA sequencing was performed to evaluate the expression profiles of messenger RNA, long non-coding RNAs, micro RNAs, and circular RNAs during the porcine liver aging process. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis was performed to investigate the biological functions of age-related genes.

A number of age-related genes were identified in the porcine liver. GO annotation showed that up-regulated genes were mainly related to immune response, while the down-regulated genes were mainly related to metabolism. Moreover, several lncRNAs and their target genes were also found to be differentially expressed during liver aging. In addition, the multi-group cooperative control relationships and constructed circRNA-miRNA co-expression networks were assessed during liver aging.

Numerous age-related genes were identified and circRNA-miRNA co-expression networks that are active during porcine liver aging were constructed. These findings contribute to the understanding of the transcriptional foundations of liver aging and also provide further references that clarify human liver aging at the molecular level.