Identifying miRNA-mRNA regulatory networks on extreme n-6/n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid ratio expression profiles in porcine skeletal muscle

• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0283231
• Publication Date: 2023-05-04T17:32:12Z
• Authors: Yron Joseph Yabut...; Lourdes Criado-Mesas; Anna Esteve-Codina; Emilio Mármol-Sán...; Anna Castelló; Armand Sánchez; Josep M. Folch
• Keywords: 2. Zero hunger; Swine; Science; Messenger RNA; Gene Expression Profiling; Q; R; RNA sequencing; 3. Good health; Gene regulation; MicroRNAs; Fatty Acids, Omega-3; Fatty Acids, Unsaturated; Medicine; Animals; Gene expression; Skeletal muscles; RNA, Messenger; Muscle, Skeletal; Adrenergic signal transduction; Research Article

Omega-3 (n-3) and omega-6 (n-6) polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are essential fatty acids with antagonistic inflammatory functions that play vital roles in metabolic health and immune response. Current commercial swine diets tend to over-supplement with n-6 PUFAs, which may increase the likelihood of developing inflammatory diseases and affect the overall well-being of the animals. However, it is still poorly understood how n-6/n-3 PUFA ratios affect the porcine transcriptome expression and how messenger RNAs (mRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs) might regulate biological processes related to PUFA metabolism. On account of this, we selected a total of 20 Iberian × Duroc crossbred pigs with extreme values for n-6/n-3 FA ratio (10 high vs 10 low), andlongissimus dorsimuscle samples were used to identify differentially expressed mRNAs and miRNAs. The observed differentially expressed mRNAs were associated to biological pathways related to muscle growth and immunomodulation, while the differentially expressed microRNAs (ssc-miR-30a-3p,ssc-miR-30e-3p,ssc-miR-15bandssc-miR-7142-3p) were correlated to adipogenesis and immunity. Relevant miRNA-to-mRNA regulatory networks were also predicted (i.e.,mir15btoARRDC3;mir-7142-3ptoMETTL21C), and linked to lipolysis, obesity, myogenesis, and protein degradation. The n-6/n-3 PUFA ratio differences in pig skeletal muscle revealed genes, miRNAs and enriched pathways involved in lipid metabolism, cell proliferation and inflammation.