Core competing endogenous RNA network based on mRNA and non-coding RNA expression profiles in chicken fatty liver

Area of Science:

• * Animal Science
• * Molecular Biology
• * Genetics

Background:

• * Fatty liver disease is a prevalent metabolic disorder in chickens, impacting egg production and mortality.
• * Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play a role in fatty liver by regulating gene expression, often through microRNA (miRNA) interactions.
• * The specific competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) networks governing fatty liver disease in chickens remain largely uncharacterized.

Purpose of the Study:

• * To identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs), miRNAs, and lncRNAs associated with fatty liver disease in Jingxing-Huang chickens.
• * To construct and analyze a lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA ceRNA network to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying chicken fatty liver disease.
• * To provide a resource for understanding posttranscriptional regulation in chicken liver and adipose tissue.

Main Methods:

• * Construction of a fatty liver model in 300 Jingxing-Huang chickens.
• * Whole-transcriptome sequencing to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs), miRNAs, and lncRNAs between fatty liver and control groups.
• * Bioinformatic analysis including Gene Ontology, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment, and Cytoscape for ceRNA network construction.

Main Results:

• * Identification of 953 DEGs, including 26 differentially expressed miRNAs and 56 differentially expressed lncRNAs.
• * Enrichment analyses indicated involvement of DEGs in fatty acid metabolism and lipid synthesis pathways.
• * Construction of a lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA ceRNA network revealed key regulatory interactions, highlighting the ENSGALT00000079786-miR-140/miR-143/miR-1a/miR-22/miR-375 network.

Conclusions:

• * The study successfully constructed a ceRNA network implicated in the pathogenesis of chicken fatty liver disease.
• * Specific lncRNAs, miRNAs, and mRNAs were identified as crucial components of this network.
• * The findings offer valuable insights into the posttranscriptional regulatory mechanisms governing liver and adipose tissue in chickens.