<i>NCAPG</i> Regulates Myogenesis in Sheep, and SNPs Located in Its Putative Promoter Region Are Associated with Growth and Development Traits

Abstract

Previously, NCAPG was identified as a candidate gene associated with sheep growth traits. This study aimed to investigate the direct role of NCAPG in regulating myogenesis in embryonic myoblast cells and to investigate the association between single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in its promoter region and sheep growth traits. The function of NCAPG in myoblast proliferation and differentiation was detected after small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) knocked down the expression of NCAPG. Cell proliferation was detected using CCK-8 assay, EdU proliferation assay, and flow cytometry cell cycle analysis. Cell differentiation was detected via cell immunofluorescence and the quantification of myogenic regulatory factors (MRFs). SNPs in the promoter region were detected using Sanger sequencing and genotyped using the improved multiplex ligation detection reaction (iMLDR®) technique. As a result, a notable decrease (p p p NCAPG in myoblasts during induced differentiation, the relative expression levels of MRFs were markedly (p p p p NCAPG can inhibit the proliferation and differentiation of ovine embryonic myoblasts. SNPs in its promoter region can serve as potential useful markers for selecting sheep growth traits.

Keywords

• sheep growth and development
• myoblasts
• NCAPG
• SNP