The relationships of collagen and ADAMTS2 expressionlevels with meat quality traits in cattle

Abstract

Extracellular matrix (ECM) is the major macromolecule in skeletal muscle, and collagen is main component of ECM surrounding muscle fiber and adipocyte, which affect meat quality greatly. The remodeling of ECM is regulated by matrix metalloproteinases, such as ADAMTS2, which is essential for the maturation of triple helical collagen fibrils in body. The expression patterns of COL1A1, COL2A1, COL3A1 and ADAMTS2 in longissimus dorsi muscle were explored by qRT-PCR and results indicated that the expression levels of COL1A1, COL3A1 and ADAMTS2 were significantly higher at 3 and 24 month, while significantly lower at 12 and 30 month. The expression of ADAMTS2 and COL1A1 had significant positive relationships with intramuscular fat content, while expression of COL3A1 had significant positive relationship with shearing force and water holding capacity in cattle. The expression levels of collagen and ADAMTS2 were significantly higher in mesenteric fat, mammary fat pad and subcutaneous fat than in longissimus dorsi muscle, biceps femoris and infraspinitus tissues. The expressions levels of COL1A1, COL3A1 and ADAMTS2 were significantly lower in marbling fat than in other fat tissues. This study indicated that the expression of collagen and ADAMTS2 had important effects on postnatal skeletal muscle development and meat quality.