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| Preliminary Research of MiR-148a Regulating Porcine Liver Development |
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Abstract miR-148a is a member of the miR-148/152 family, which participate in the regulation of many biological processes, such as cell proliferation and differentiation, cancer formation, and so on. In the present study, the expression of miR-148a was detected in Jinhua pig (Sus scrofa) liver at various developmental stages by qRT-PCR. The result showed that its expression was abundant in embryonic period and became lower as the days increased after birth. To understand its biological functions and processes, GO (Gene ontology) annotation and KEGG (kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes) pathway analyses were subsequently performed on miR-148a. Bioinformatics comprehensive analysis indicated that miR-148a participated in the regulation of liver growth and development, especially in cell proliferation and differentiation. To confirm the putative miR-148a target genes, the expression changes of ten predicted genes were quantitatively analyzed at mRNA in over-expressed miR-148a mouse (Mus musculus) embryonic hepatocytes. The results revealed that over-expression of miR-148a could significantly reduced the mRNA expression of CCAAT-enhancer binding protein-alpha gene (Cebpa) (P＜0.05). Moreover, the expression of miR-148a and Cebpa also showed an inverse correlation in Jinhua pig liver at various developmental stages. These results suggested that miR-148a might reduce the expression of Cebpa to regulate the balance between cell proliferation and differentiation in liver development.
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Received: 18 August 2014
Published: 01 March 2015
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