RFLNA mitigates heat stress-impaired chondrocyte proliferation and vertebral development through cytoskeletal regulation in pigs

作者：Xiaoyang Yang, Yuxuan Xie, Yabiao Luo, Yubei Wang, Yang, Lixian, Longmiao Zhang, Pengxiang Xue, Chengwan Zha, Meiying Fang · 发表于：Figshare · 年份：2026 · DOI：10.6084/m9.figshare.c.8420650 · 研究领域：Cell biology、Biology、Chemistry、Anatomy

Abstract Background Global climate change has brought severe challenges to the livestock industry, among which heat stress (HS) acts as a key factor impairing the growth and development of pigs. It has been established that ambient temperature influences body size traits mainly by directly affecting skeletal development, yet the molecular mechanisms by which HS inhibits this process remain largely unclear. The cytoskeleton is critical for mediating cellular morphological adaptation to environmental stimuli, and HS can disturb cellular development by destroying cytoskeletal homeostasis. Previous studies have demonstrated that RFLNA regulates bone development through the cytoskeleton, but whether it alleviates HS-induced chondrocyte damage by modulating the cytoskeleton has not been reported. Therefore, this study was conducted to explore the effects of HS on the proliferation and differentiation of pig thoracic vertebral growth plate chondrocytes (PTVCs), and to clarify the regulatory mechanism by which the regulatory factor RFLNA endows PTVCs with HS resistance. Results Transcriptomic profiling of PTVCs cultured under control (37 °C) and HS (41 °C) conditions at multiple differentiation time points revealed that HS suppressed cell proliferation and extracellular matrix synthesis. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the early HS response (6 h and 24 h) were enriched in inflammation and stress-response pathways. In contrast, DEGs from later-phases (48, 96, and 144 h) were ...