Abstract
Tibetan pigs that inhabit the Tibetan Plateau exhibit striking phenotypic and physiological differences from lowland pigs, and have adapted well to extreme conditions. However, the mechanisms involved in regulating gene expression at high altitude in these animals are not fully understood. In this study, we obtained transcriptomic and proteomic data from the heart tissues of Tibetan and Yorkshire pigs raised in the highlands (TH and YH) and lowlands (TL and YL) via RNA-seq and iTRAQ (isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation) analyses, respectively. Comparative analyses of TH vs. YH, TH vs.TL, TL vs. YL, and YH vs. YL yielded 299, 169, 242, and 368 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), and 473, 297, 394, and 297 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs), respectively. By functional annotation of these DEGs and DEPs, genes that were enriched in the HIF-1 signaling pathway (NPPA, ERK2, ENO3, and EGLN3), VEGF signaling pathway (ERK2, A2M, FGF1, CTGF, and DPP4), and hypoxia-related processes (CRYAB, EGLN3, TGFB2, DPP4, and ACE) were identified as important candidate genes for high-altitude adaptation in the Tibetan pig. This study enhances our understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in hypoxic adaptation in pigs, and furthers our understanding of human hypoxic diseases.
Highlights
Low air pressure and low oxygen partial pressure at high altitude seriously affect the survival and development of human beings and other animals[1, 2]
Sequencing of multiple individuals from various pig breeds revealed that certain genomic regions, including genes involved in the hypoxia response, olfaction, energy metabolism, and drug responses, are under selection in the Tibetan pig[10]
We screened for key genes and proteins related to hypoxic adaptation by comparing Tibetan and Yorkshire pigs raised at different altitudes via RNA-seq and isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) protein sequencing analyses
Summary
Low air pressure and low oxygen partial pressure at high altitude seriously affect the survival and development of human beings and other animals[1, 2]. We performed a comparative analysis of the transcriptomic and proteomic profiles of heart tissues obtained from Tibetan and Yorkshire pigs raised at high (TH and YH, respectively) and low (TL and YL, respectively) altitudes using RNA-seq and iTRAQ technologies. Via these analyses, we identified key genes and molecular mechanisms involved in the high- altitude adaptations of the Tibetan pig
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