miR-26a is Involved in Glycometabolism and Affects Boar Sperm Viability by Targeting <i>PDHX</i>

oleh: Wencan Wang, Kai Liang, Yu Chang, Mingxia Ran, Yan Zhang, Malik Ahsan Ali, Dinghui Dai, Izhar Hyder Qazi, Ming Zhang, Guangbin Zhou, Jiandong Yang, Christiana Angel, Changjun Zeng

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2020-01-01

Deskripsi

miR-26a is associated with sperm metabolism and can affect sperm motility and apoptosis. However, how miR-26a affects sperm motility remains largely unknown. Our previous study indicated that the <i>PDHX</i> gene is predicted to be a potential target of miR-26a, which is responsible for pyruvate oxidative decarboxylation which is considered as a key step for connecting glycolysis with oxidative phosphorylation. In this study, we first reported a potential relationship between miR-26a and <i>PDHX</i> and their expressions in fresh, frozen-thawed, and epididymal boar sperm. Then, sperm viability and survival were determined after transfection of miR-26a. mRNA and protein expression level of PDHX in the liquid-preserved boar sperm after transfection were also determined by RT-qPCR and Western Blot (WB). Our results showed that expression level of <i>PDHX</i> was significantly increased during sperm transit from epididymal caput to corpus and cauda. Similarly, expression of <i>PDHX</i> was significantly higher (<i>P</i> &lt; 0.05) in fresh sperm as compared to epididymal cauda and frozen-thawed sperm. However, the expression of miR-26a in epididymal corpus sperm was significantly higher (<i>P</i> &lt; 0.05) than that of caput and cauda sperm. Furthermore, after transfection of boar sperm with miR-26a mimic and inhibitor under liquid storage, the lowest and highest sperm viability was observed in miR-26a mimic and inhibitor treatment (<i>P</i> &lt; 0.05), respectively. The protein levels of <i>PDHX</i>, after 24 and 48 h of transfection of miR-26a mimics and inhibitor, were notably decreased and increased (<i>P</i> &lt; 0.05), respectively, as compared to negative control (NC) group. In conclusion, the novel and enticing findings of our study provide a reasonable evidence that miR-26a via <i>PDHX</i>, a link between glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation, could regulate the glycometabolic pathway which eventually affect boar sperm viability and survival.