MAPK family genes' influences on myogenesis in cattle: Genome-wide analysis and identification

The mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) family is highly conserved in mammals, and is involved in a va-riety of physiological phenomena like regeneration, development, cell proliferation, and differentiation. In this study, 13 MAPK genes were identified in cattle and their corresponding protein properties were characterized using genome-wide identification and analysis. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the 13 BtMAPKs were cluster grouped into eight major evolutionary branches, which were segmented into three large subfamilies: ERK, p38 and JNK MAPK. BtMAPKs from the same subfamily had similar protein motif compositions, but considerably different exon-intron patterns. The heatmap analysis of transcriptome sequencing data showed that the expression of BtMAPKs was tissue-specific, with BtMAPK6 and BtMAPK12 highly expressed in muscle tissues. Furthermore, knockdown of BtMAPK6 and BtMAPK12 revealed that BtMAPK6 had no effect on myogenic cell proliferation, but negatively affected the differentiation of myogenic cells. In contrast, BtMAPK12 improved both the cell proliferation and differentiation. Taken together, these results provide novel insights into the functions of MAPK families in cattle, which could serve as a basis for further studies on the specific mechanisms of the genes in myogenesis.

Automated summary

In this study, 13 MAPK genes were identified in cattle and their protein properties were characterized. These genes were divided into three subfamilies and showed tissue-specific expression. BtMAPK6 and BtMAPK12 were highly expressed in muscle tissues and had different effects on muscle cell differentiation. These findings provide new insights into the specific mechanisms of MAPK genes in myogenesis.