Abstract

The regulatory mechanism of mammary gland development and lactation is important, as lactation not only provides healthy milk for infants, but also provides health benefits to mothers. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have recently received much attention, but only a few have been functionally characterized. In the present study, the structure and expression profile of a rat Tc2n-derived circular RNA (cTc2n) was investigated by several protocols. The cTc2n comprised exons10 and 11 of the Tc2ngeneandhad no poly(A)structure. The expression of cTc2n was significantly higher in the mammary gland of rat than in other tissues, including the heart, liver, spleen, lung, kidney, uterus and ovary. The abundance of cTc2n was the highest on day 1, and significantly declined on day 7, slightly increasing on day 21 postpartum. This finding indicates that cTc2n might play an important role in lactation.

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