Molecular cloning and expression profile analysis of porcine TCAP gene

Mol Biol Rep. 2010 Mar;37(3):1641-7. doi: 10.1007/s11033-009-9577-4. Epub 2009 Jun 2.

Abstract

The gradually discovered sarcomeric proteins play important roles for structural integrity and signal transduction of sarcomere during myofibril genesis. TCAP (also described as telethonin, T-cap), one of the sarcomeric protein genes, is regulated developmentally. In this study, we reported the molecular characteristics of porcine TCAP gene. A 979 bp TCAP cDNA nucleotide sequence was obtained in pig and the deduced amino acid sequence had 92 and 91% identity to those of human and mouse homologous genes, respectively. One SNP was discovered and the allele frequency analysis showed that G allele frequency was low among 221 unrelated pigs from seven breeds. The tissue distribution patterns revealed that TCAP mRNA was expressed abundantly in skeletal and heart muscle tissue. Real-time quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) results displayed TCAP mRNA was up-regulated in both Tongcheng and Landrace pigs during prenatal skeletal muscle development stages. This study suggested that TCAP gene might be a prospective candidate gene affecting muscle mass and meat quality traits in the pig, and also implicated the possible significance of TCAP on sarcomere assembly.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • Base Sequence
  • Cloning, Molecular
  • Connectin
  • DNA Primers / genetics
  • DNA, Complementary / genetics
  • Gene Expression Profiling
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / genetics
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / physiology*
  • Gene Frequency
  • Humans
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Muscle Proteins / genetics*
  • Muscle Proteins / metabolism
  • Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide
  • Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Sarcomeres / genetics*
  • Sarcomeres / metabolism
  • Sequence Analysis, DNA
  • Sequence Homology
  • Species Specificity
  • Sus scrofa / genetics*
  • Sus scrofa / metabolism

Substances

  • Connectin
  • DNA Primers
  • DNA, Complementary
  • Muscle Proteins
  • TCAP protein, human