Acta Veterinaria et Zootechnica Sinica ›› 2020, Vol. 51 ›› Issue (3): 465-474.doi: 10.11843/j.issn.0366-6964.2020.03.007

• ANIMAL GENETICS AND BREEDING • Previous Articles     Next Articles

The Relationship between HOTAIR and Skin Pigmentation in Goats and Its Expression Pattern in vitro

JIANG Jing1,2, LI Jie1,2, ZHOU Peng1,2, WANG Gaofu1,2, CHEN Cancan1,2, FU Lin1,2, ZHANG Li1,2, LIU Liangjia1,2, REN Hangxing1,2*   

  1. 1. Chongqing Academy of Animal Sciences, Rongchang 402460, China;
    2. Chongqing Engineering Research Center for Goat, Rongchang 402460, China
  • Received:2019-07-22 Online:2020-03-25 Published:2020-03-20

Abstract: The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between goat HOX transcript antisense RNA (HOTAIR) and its partial family genes and skin pigmentation in goats as well as its expression pattern in the melanocytes. qRT-PCR was used to detect the mRNA expression level of HOTAIR, HOXD10, HOXC11 and HOXC12 genes in skin tissues of adult female Youzhou Dark-skin goats ((19.16±1.44) kg) and Banjiao goats ((23.27±3.24) kg). Then the expression pattern of these genes in mouse skin melanoma cells (B16-F10) at different proliferation and differentiation stages (1, 3, 5 and 7 d cultured) were also detected by qRT-PCR, and the relationship in expression level between HOTAIR and the other 3 genes was analyzed. The results showed that expression of HOTAIR and HOXC12 in the skin tissue of Youzhou Dark-skin goats were significantly higher than those of Banjiao goats (P<0.01), however, expression of HOXD10 in the skin tissue of Youzhou Dark-skin goats was significantly lower than that of Banjiao goats (P<0.05). Pearson correlation analysis indicated that expression level of HOTAIR was significantly positively correlated with HOXC12 (P<0.05), but significantly negatively correlated with HOXD10 (P<0.05). In the proliferation stage of B16-F10 cells, expression of HOTAIR was not significantly different (P>0.05) among different proliferation stages; The expression of HOXC11, HOXC12 and HOXD10 showed a pattern of "high-low-high", and their mRNA levels on 1 d cultured were higher than those on 3 and 5 d cultured (P<0.01); The expression level of HOTAIR was positively correlated with HOXC11 (P<0.01). At the differentiation stage of B16-F10 cells, expression of HOTAIR kept increasing during cell differentiation; Instead, expression of HOXD10 kept decreasing during this stage; Expression of HOXC11 was not significantly different (P>0.05) among different differentiation stages; Expression of HOXC12 on 1 and 5 d cultured were very significantly higher than those on 3 and 7 d cultured (P<0.01); Expression level of HOTAIR was significantly negatively correlated with HOXD10 (P<0.01). HOTAIR shows high expression level in the dark skin of goats, and its expression level remains increasing during differentiation in B16-F10 cells. HOTAIR has a negative regulatory effect on HOXD10. The interaction between HOTAIR and HOXD10 may affect skin pigmentation by regulating the differentiation of skin melanocytes in goats.

Key words: goat, HOTAIR, HOX family gene, skin, melanocyte

CLC Number: