Analysis of the Associations between the miR-767, miR-335-3p, and miR-106b-5p microRNA Expression Patterns and Milk and Serum Metabolites in Goat (Capra hircus)
摘要
In the presented study, expression profiles of miR-767, miR-335-3p, and miR-106b-5p microRNAs in milk and blood serum specimens of goats from the first to 23rd week of lactation are characterized taking into account the dynamics of some protein and lipid metabolites of milk and blood. MiRNA expression profiles in milk correlated with some changes in the analyzed metabolites. In particular, miR-767 positively correlated with milk protein, casein, and fatty acids (C18:0, MCFA and MUFA). For miR-335-3p, negative correlation with total blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels was observed along with positive correlation with the content of milk fat and MCFA, SCFA, TFA, and SFA, including C14:0, C16:00, and C18:0. MiR-106b-5p expression showed unidirectional relationship with total blood cholesterol. Among all three analyzed serum miRNAs, only miR-106b-5p expression was positively correlated with the content of milk protein, casein, LCFA and MUFA. The high predictive effect (R2 > 0.800, p < 0.001) suggests an important role of mammary gland-synthesized miRNAs (miR-767 and miR-335-3p) for milk protein and fat components, and of the circulating in the blood miR-106b-5p, for milk protein and casein. The results from our study suggest that increased expression of miR-767, miR-335-3p in milk and miR-106b-5p in serum leads to the activation of transcription and translation of their target genes, which is phenotypically expressed in an increase in the values of a number of protein and fat components of goat milk. The study of the role of miRNAs in the regulation of lactation is a promising trend in modern molecular biology, which has great potential for increasing the efficiency of dairy production, improving product quality, and in the programs for the development of predictive biomarkers.