Research by the Livestock Embryo Engineering and Reproduction Team reveals the regulatory mechanism of ketosis on the proliferation of follicular granules in dairy cows

Recently, the livestock embryo engineering and reproduction team of the Beijing Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences revealed the regulatory mechanism
of the main metabolic marker of ketosis β-hydroxybutyric acid (BHBA) on the proliferation of bovine follicle granule cells.
The results were published in Frontiers in Veterinary Science
.

 

According to Zhu Huabin, the chief researcher of the team, ketosis is a high incidence of nutritional metabolic diseases in high-yield dairy cows, which is characterized by an increase in BHBA in serum, which has a long-term negative impact on
the follicle development and reproductive efficiency of dairy cows.
However, the molecular regulatory mechanisms by which ketosis negatively regulate follicle development remain unclear
.

 

The normal development of follicular granule cells (GCs) is critical for follicular development, and the study validated the effects
of three different concentrations of BHBA on GCs proliferation and cell cycle by establishing in vitro GCs models.
At the same time, a dynamic transcriptional spectrum of elevated BHBA concentration stimulation of GCs was constructed, and key regulators who may adversely affect the development of follicles and GCs were reported
.

 

The study found that the proliferation rate of granulocytes in the low concentration BHBA and high concentration BHBA groups decreased significantly, and the number of granulocytes in the G1 phase of the cell cycle increased
significantly.
The application of RNA-seq to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and enrichment analysis found that the low concentration BHBA group could be enriched to genes related to cell proliferation and cycle, such as G0S2 and S100A6, which showed a downward adjustment trend.
The high concentration BHBA group can be enriched to differential genes (PARPs)
associated with apoptosis.
In addition, the study also found that CYP27B1 and CYP17A1, which are associated with Ca2+ balance and estrogen synthesis, are enriched
in gene concentrations that consistent with the trend toward increased expression of BHBA (up-regulation/down-regulation).
This study provides potential therapeutic targets
for improving fertility in cows with ketosis.

 

This research has been funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Ningxia Key R&D Program, Dairy Industry Technology System and other projects
.
Gong Jianfei, a doctoral student at the Pastoral Medical Institute, and Zhao Shanjiang, an assistant researcher, are the co-first authors of the article, and researcher Zhu Huabin is the corresponding author
.

 

Original link: https://doi.
org/10.
3389/fvets.
2022.
915956