Abstract: The purpose of this study was to compare the differential expression of HIF-1α and IL-17 in the testicular tissues of different bovines, and to further explore the correlation between the regulatory functions of HIF-1α and IL-17 in bovine testes. The testes of adult yak, cattle-yak,and yellow cattle were used as the research objects. Western-blot and real-time quantitative PCR were used to detect the differential expression of HIF-1α and IL-17 proteins and genes in 3 types of bovine testes, respectively. The results showed that the expression of HIF-1α and IL-17 genes and proteins were significantly different among 3 bovine testicular tissues, and the expression in cattle-yak testes were extremely significantly higher than those in yak and yellow cattle (P<0.01); In addition, the expression levels of HIF-1α and IL-17 proteins in yak were significantly higher than those of yellow cattle (P<0.05,P<0.01), while the expression level of IL-17 gene was not significantly different between yak and yellow cattle (P>0.05). The differences in expression of HIF-1α and IL-17 genes and proteins in different bovine testicular tissues indicated species specificity; The significantly higher expression of HIF-1α and IL-17 in testis tissues of yak and cattle-yak suggested that they might have important regulatory effects on the adaptation to hypoxic environment.

Key words: bovine, testis, HIF-1α, IL-17