MYH1F promotes the proliferation and differentiation of chicken skeletal muscle satellite cells into myotubes

Abstract

In diploid organisms, interactions between alleles determine phenotypic variation. In previous experiments, only MYH1F was found to show both ASE (spatiotemporal allele-specific expression) and TRD (allelic transmission ratio distortion) characteristics in the pectoral muscle by comparing the genome-wide allele lists of hybrid populations (F₁) of meat- and egg- type chickens. In addition, MYH1F is a member of the MYH gene family, which plays an important role in skeletal muscle and non-muscle cells of animals, but the specific expression and function of this gene in chickens are still unknown. Therefore, qRT-PCR was used to detect the expression of MYH1F in different tissues of chicken. Proliferation and differentiation of chicken skeletal muscle satellite cells (SMSCs) have been detected by transfection of MYH1F-specific small interfering RNA (siRNA). The results showed that the expression of MYH1F in chicken skeletal muscle was higher than that in other tissues. Combined with CCK-8 assay, EdU assay, immunofluorescence, and Western blot Assay, it was found that MYH1F knockdown could significantly suppress the proliferation of chicken SMSCs and depress the differentiation and fusion of the cells. These results suggest that MYH1F plays a critical role in myogenesis in poultry, which is of great significance for exploring the regulatory mechanisms of muscle development and improving animal productivity.

Keywords:

• MYH1F
• satellite cells
• differentiation
• skeletal muscles
• chicken

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Southwest University of Science and Technology [Grant No. 21zx7119], the Open Fund of Farm Animal Genetic Resources Exploration and Innovation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province [Grant No. CNDK-2020-01], and the Sichuan Science and Technology Program [Grant No. 2022NSFSC1722, 2021YFYZ0031, and 22ZDYF0004].