ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Cell Dev. Biol.
Sec. Embryonic Development
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcell.2025.1615676
Integrated analysis of miRNAs-mRNAs in skeletal muscle development revealed that novel-miR-766 affects myoblast differentiation and myofiber-type formation in sheep
Provisionally accepted
- 1Xinjiang University, Urumqi, China
- 2Xinjiang Academy of Animal Science, Ürümqi, Xinjiang Uyghur Region, China
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Various regulators coregulate muscle development in animals. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are crucial regulators that participate in multiple aspects of myofiber formation. To identify key miRNAs and target genes associated with muscle development, embryos or longissimus dorsi of Chinese Merino sheep were collected for whole-transcriptome sequencing across 11 gestation periods: 26 days (D26), D29, D32, D35, D40, D45, D55, D75, D85, D105, and D135. A total of 284 differentially expressed miRNAs (DE-miRNAs) were screened by comparing the transcriptome data across all 11 periods. DE-miRNAs were divided into two developmental stages (stage A and stage B) based on heatmap clustering analysis. Functional enrichment analysis revealed that DE-miRNAs in stage A were closely related to myofiber formation, whereas those in stage B were closely related to myofiber growth and maturation. Coanalysis of differentially expressed mRNAs (DE-mRNAs) and DE-miRNAs in stage A revealed the target relationships between 159 DE-miRNAs and 21 DE-mRNAs associated with myofiber formation. In vitro assays revealed that myoblast differentiation and myotube formation were significantly inhibited by MYH3 knockdown via siMYH3 and that novel-miR-766 targets and decreases the expression of MYH3. In addition, the expression levels of marker genes related to myoblast differentiation and myofiber types were altered after the overexpression and inhibition of novel-miR-766 in sheep myoblasts. Our findings suggest that novel-miR-766 influences myoblast differentiation and myofiber-type formation.
Keywords: Sheep, Longissimus dorsi, miRNA, MYH3, myofiber
Received: 21 Apr 2025; Accepted: 10 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Gu, Duan, Liu, Li, Han and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Mingjun Liu, Xinjiang University, Urumqi, China
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