The tissue distribution and developmental changes of ghrelin mRNA expression in sheep.
Male Kazak sheep and Xinjiang fine wool sheep, six for each different age group (days 2, 30, 60, 90 and 120), were used in the present study to investigate the tissue distribution and developmental changes of ghrelin mRNA expression in abomasum; however, there was no 120-day-old Kazak sheep. After measurement of body weight, the tissues such as hypothalamus, pituitary, heart, liver, rumen, reticulum, omasum, abomasum, duodenum, and longissimus dorsi muscle were sampled. And the total RNA of different tissues was extracted to determine the abundance of ghrelin mRNA by RT-PCR and real-time PCR. The results showed that (1) for both breeds, body weight among different ages was significantly different (P<0.05). And from day 30 to 90, the body weight of Kazak was significantly higher than that of Xinjiang (P<0.01); (2) Ghrelin mRNA existed in all the above tissues and was significantly higher in the abomasum than in other tissues (P<0.05); (3) the temporal patterns of abomasum ghrelin mRNA expression in Kazak and Xinjiang were similar. From day 2 to 60 in Kazak and 2 to 90 in Xinjiang, there was a steady increase in the ghrelin mRNA level. By day 60 in Kazak and day 90 in Xinjiang, the level reached a plateau and remained steady. These results also demonstrated that from birth to day 90, ghrelin mRNA level was significantly higher in Kazak than in Xinjiang (P<0.01).
Huang
Zhi-Guo
ZG
College of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China.
Xiong
Li
L
Liu
Zhen-Shan
ZS
Qiao
Yong
Y
Dai
Rong
R
Xie
Zhuang
Z
Liu
Shou-Ren
SR
Shi
Guo-Qing
GQ
Liu
Guo-Qing
GQ
D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight; D015870:Gene Expression; D054439:Ghrelin / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012756:Sheep / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D014018:Tissue Distribution / Q000502:physiology*
D054439:Ghrelin; D012333:RNA, Messenger