Exploration of miRNA and mRNA Profiles in Fresh and Frozen-Thawed Boar Sperm by Transcriptome and Small RNA Sequencing

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Ding-Hui Dai¹  Ming-Xia Ran¹  Guang-Bin Zhou¹  IzharHyder Qazi¹  Kai Liang¹  Chang-Jun Zeng¹  Yan Zhang¹  Ming Zhang¹  Christiana Angel² 

[1] College of Animal Sciences and Technology, and Farm Animal Genetic Resources Exploration and Innovation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China;College of Veterinary Medicine, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China;

关键词: boar sperm;    cryopreservation;    mRNA;    miRNA;    high-throughput sequencing;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijms20040802

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Due to lower farrowing rate and reduced litter size with frozen-thawed semen, over 90% of artificial insemination (AI) is conducted using liquid stored boar semen. Although substantial progress has been made towards optimizing the cryopreservation protocols for boar sperm, the influencing factors and underlying mechanisms related to cryoinjury and freeze tolerance of boar sperm remain largely unknown. In this study, we report the differential expression of mRNAs and miRNAs between fresh and frozen-thawed boar sperm using high-throughput RNA sequencing. Our results showed that 567 mRNAs and 135 miRNAs were differentially expressed (DE) in fresh and frozen-thawed boar sperm. Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses revealed that the majority of DE mRNAs were enriched in environmental information processing such as cytokine-cytokine receptor interactions, PI3K-Akt signaling, cell adhesion, MAPK, and calcium signaling pathways. Moreover, the targets of DE miRNAs were enriched in significant GO terms such as cell process, protein binding, and response to stimuli. In conclusion, we speculate that DE mRNAs and miRNAs are heavily involved in boar sperm response to environment stimuli, apoptosis, and metabolic activities. The differences in expression also reflect the various structural and functional changes in sperm during cryopreservation.

【 授权许可】

Unknown