ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Animal Nutrition and Metabolism
Sodium butyrate promotes the function of NDUFS2 in bovine skeletal muscle fiber type transformation and mitochondrial biosynthesis
Provisionally accepted
- 1College of Animal Science and Technology, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, China. Key Laboratory of Ruminant Molecular Cell Breeding, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Yinchuan, Ningxia, China
- 2Yinchuan Animal Husbandry Technical Extension and Service Center, Yinchuan, China, Ningxia, China
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Abstract: Butyrate is a particularly important short-chain fatty acid produced by bacterial fermentation in the gastrointestinal tract of ruminants, exerting a pivotal influence on muscle energy metabolism and mitochondrial function. Nevertheless, it remains unclear whether butyrate plays a role in regulating the function of the NDUFS2 (NADH dehydrogenase ubiquinone iron-sulfur protein 2) in bovine skeletal muscle cells (BSMCs). NDUFS2 promoted BSMCs proliferation and inhibited differentiation, promoted the conversion of fast-to-slow type fibers, elevated ATP and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copy number, and thus had beneficial effects on cellular energy metabolism. The sodium butyrate (NaB) treatment resulted in enhanced functionality of NDUFS2 gene in BSMCs, validating the interaction between NDUFS2 and NDUFS1 protein. This study clarified that NaB treatment can regulate the function of NDUFS2 in mitochondrial biosynthesis and myofiber type transformation, providing a theoretical basis for future molecular regulation of muscle phenotype in domestic animals.
Keywords: Bovine skeletal muscle cells, Mitochondria, Muscle fiber type, NDUFS2, sodium butyrate
Received: 26 Nov 2025; Accepted: 16 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Zhou, Xu, Zhao, Qu, Li, Ding, Su and Kang. 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: Xiaolong Kang
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