Abstract
BackgroundVascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) can induce endothelial cell proliferation, promote cell migration, and inhibit apoptosis. These processes play key roles in physiological blood vessel formation and pathological angiogenesis.MethodsIn this study, we examined VEGFA gene expression in the heart, liver, and kidney of Tibetan pigs (TP), Yorkshire pigs that migrated to high altitudes (YH), and Yorkshire pigs that lived at low altitudes (YL). We used PCR and Sanger sequencing to screen for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 5ʹ-flanking DNA and exons of the VEGFA gene. Quantitative real-time PCR and western blots were used to measure expression levels and PCR products were sequenced.ResultsResults showed that the VEGFA mRNA and protein expression in heart, liver and kidney of TP was higher than that in YH and YL. In addition, the mRNA sequence of the pig VEGFA gene was conserved among pig breeds, and only five SNPs were found in the 5ʹ-flanking region of the VEGFA gene, the allele frequency distributions of the 5 SNPs were not significantly different between the TP, Yorkshire (YL), and Diannan small-ear (DN) pig populations.ConclusionIn conclusion, the Tibetan pig showed high levels of VEGFA gene expression in several hypoxic tissues, which suggests that the VEGFA gene may play a major functional role in hypoxic adaptation.
Highlights
Vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) can induce endothelial cell proliferation, promote cell migration, and inhibit apoptosis
Experimental materials Experiments were performed using pigs from three different populations: Tibetan pig from highlands (Linzhi, 3,000 m) (TP), Yorkshire pig that migrated to high altitude (Linzhi, 3,000 m) (YH), and Yorkshire pig raised at lowland (Beijing, 100 m) (YL)
No single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were detected in the coding region of the VEGFA gene among the TP, Yorkshire pigs that lived at low altitudes (YL), and Diannan small-ear (DN) populations
Summary
Vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) can induce endothelial cell proliferation, promote cell migration, and inhibit apoptosis. These processes play key roles in physiological blood vessel formation and pathological angiogenesis. VEGFA ( known as VEGF) is a major growth factor for endothelial cells. It promotes vascular permeability and angiogenesis by stimulating proliferation, migration, and survival of endothelial cells, as well as inhibiting apoptosis [1,2,3]. The TP have adapted to harsh conditions such as hypoxia [7,8,9], which makes this species a good model for investigating molecular mechanisms of hypoxic adaptation.
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