title: Profile of microRNA in Giant Panda Blood: A Resource for Immune-Related and Novel microRNAs.
abstract: The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is one of the world's most beloved endangered mammals. Although the draft genome of this species had been assembled, little was known about the composition of its microRNAs (miRNAs) or their functional profiles. Recent studies demonstrated that changes in the expression of miRNAs are associated with immunity. In this study, miRNAs were extracted from the blood of four healthy giant pandas and sequenced by Illumina next generation sequencing technology. As determined by miRNA screening, a total of 276 conserved miRNAs and 51 novel putative miRNAs candidates were detected. After differential expression analysis, we noticed that the expressions of 7 miRNAs were significantly up-regulated in young giant pandas compared with that of adults. Moreover, 2 miRNAs were up-regulated in female giant pandas and 1 in the male individuals. Target gene prediction suggested that the miRNAs of giant panda might be relevant to the expressions of 4,602 downstream genes. Subseuqently, the predicted target genes were conducted to KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) pathway analysis and we found that these genes were mainly involved in host immunity, including the Ras signaling pathway, the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, and the MAPK signaling pathway. In conclusion, our results provide the first miRNA profiles of giant panda blood, and the predicted functional analyses may open an avenue for further study of giant panda immunity.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Bio-resources and Eco-environment, Ministry of Education, College of Life Science, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610064, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Mingyu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Bio-resources and Eco-environment, Ministry of Education, College of Life Science, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610064, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Lianming
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Bio-resources and Eco-environment, Ministry of Education, College of Life Science, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610064, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Wujiao
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: The Key Laboratory for Conservation Biology of Endangered Wildlife, Sichuan Province, Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610081, China.
authors.forename: Fujun
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Bio-resources and Eco-environment, Ministry of Education, College of Life Science, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610064, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zhenxin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Bio-resources and Eco-environment, Ministry of Education, College of Life Science, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610064, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zuoyi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Jian
authors.affiliation: The Key Laboratory for Conservation Biology of Endangered Wildlife, Sichuan Province, Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610081, China.
authors.forename: Rong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: Gooddoctor pharmaceutical Group, NO.88 Yingkou Road, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610000, China.
authors.forename: Yongmei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Bio-resources and Eco-environment, Ministry of Education, College of Life Science, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610064, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Bisong
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yue
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Bio-resources and Eco-environment, Ministry of Education, College of Life Science, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610064, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xiuyue
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics*; D001503:Ursidae / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs