Effects of foetal size, sex and developmental stage on adaptive transcriptional responses of skeletal muscle to intrauterine growth restriction in pigs

作者：Yennifer Cortés-Araya, Stephanie Cheung, Won‐Kyung Ho, Claire Stenhouse, Cheryl Ashworth, Cristina L. Esteves, F. Xavier Donadeu · 发表于：Scientific Reports · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1038/s41598-024-57194-9 · 被引用次数：7 · 研究领域：Adipose Tissue and Metabolism、Birth, Development, and Health、Muscle Physiology and Disorders

Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) occurs both in humans and domestic species. It has a particularly high incidence in pigs, and is a leading cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality as well as impaired postnatal growth. A key feature of IUGR is impaired muscle development, resulting in decreased meat quality. Understanding the developmental origins of IUGR, particularly at the molecular level, is important for developing effective strategies to mitigate its economic impact on the pig industry and animal welfare. The aim of this study was to characterise transcriptional profiles in the muscle of growth restricted pig foetuses at different gestational days (GD; gestational length ~ 115 days), focusing on selected genes (related to development, tissue injury and metabolism) that were previously identified as dysregulated in muscle of GD90 fetuses. Muscle samples were collected from the lightest foetus (L) and the sex-matched foetus with weight closest to the litter average (AW) from each of 22 Landrace x Large White litters corresponding to GD45 (n = 6), GD60 (n = 8) or GD90 (n = 8), followed by analyses, using RT-PCR and protein immunohistochemistry, of selected gene targets. Expression of the developmental genes, MYOD, RET and ACTN3 were markedly lower, whereas MSTN expression was higher, in the muscle of L relative to AW littermates beginning on GD45. Levels of all tissue injury-associated transcripts analysed (F5, PLG, KNG1, SELL, CCL16) were increased in L muscle on G...