Abstract
Heme oxygenase 1 (HMOX1) is a stress-inducing enzyme with multiple cardiovascular protective functions, especially in hypoxia stress. However, transcriptional regulation of swine HMOX1 gene remains unclear. In the present study, we first detected tissue expression profiles of HMOX1 gene in adult Hezuo Tibetan pig and analyzed the gene structure. We found that the expression level of HMOX1 gene was highest in the spleen of the Hezuo Tibetan pig, followed by liver, lung, and kidney. A series of 5’ deletion promoter plasmids in pGL3-basic vector were used to identify the core promoter region and confirmed that the minimum core promoter region of swine HMOX1 gene was located at −387 bp to −158 bp region. Then we used bioinformatics analysis to predict transcription factors in this region. Combined with site-directed mutagenesis and RNA interference assays, it was demonstrated that the three transcription factors WT1, Sp1 and C/EBPα were important transcription regulators of HMOX1 gene. In summary, our study may lay the groundwork for further functional study of HMOX1 gene.
Highlights
Tibetan pigs are typical high-altitude pig breeds living on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, and are vital to the lives of Tibetan people [1]
Total RNA was extracted from fourteen tissues, qRT-PCR was used to analyzed the mRNA expression profiles of different tissues
The results showed that the WT1, Sp1, CCAAT/enhancer binding protein α (C/EBPα), and c-Ets-1 regulatory elements were conserved in livestock (Figure 4B)
Summary
Tibetan pigs are typical high-altitude pig breeds living on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, and are vital to the lives of Tibetan people [1]. Hezuo Tibetan pigs belong to a group of Tibetan pigs, which can adapt to the harsh plateau environment and feeding conditions, mainly relying on grazing for their livelihood [3]. Genomic analyses found that there were different patterns of selection between domestic Duroc pigs and Titetan wild boars. Tibetan pigs have a higher proportion of lineage-specific genes, these specific genes were related to vascular smooth muscle contraction, disease resistance, and chemokine signaling pathway, which may reflect that Tibetan wild boar experienced natural selection to adapt to harsh environments [4]. In the genomic research to identify the candidate loci between Tibetan pigs and lowland pigs, several genes in Tibetan pigs are likely important for genetic adaptation to high altitude [5]. Previous research has shown that the adaptability of Tibetan pigs at high altitudes is significantly different from that of other domestic pigs. Tibetan pigs have evolved physiological characteristics to adapt to hypoxia in the plateau, Genes 2020, 11, 352; doi:10.3390/genes11040352 www.mdpi.com/journal/genes
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