miR-30a-3p can inhibit the proliferation and promote the differentiation of chicken primary myoblasts

1. Chicken muscle is an important factor in meat quality and its development is controlled by a complex regulatory network. 2. The following study examined the expression of miR-30a-3p in Gushi chicken breast muscle tissue and found that it was differentially expressed at different embryonic stages, reaching a peak in the 14-day-old embryo (E14). 3. The effect of miR-30a-3p on chicken primary myoblasts (CPMs) was explored. Results from both cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) and 5-ethynyl-2’-deoxyuridine (EdU) showed that this can inhibit the proliferation of myoblasts, and through cell cycle experiments, the inhibition of myoblast proliferation was found, which may be due to G0/G1 arrest in the cell cycle. 4. The effect of miR-30a-3p on the differentiation of myoblasts was studied. The results showed that miR-30a-3p can promote the expression of <i>MYOD</i>, myogenin (<i>MYOG</i>), and myosin heavy chain (<i>MYHC</i>) genes to promote the differentiation of myoblasts. Through MYHC protein immunofluorescence experiments, it was found that miR-30a-3p can effectively increase the area of myotubes. 5. Finally, mRNA transcriptome data was analysed, which showed that miR-30a-3p has 51 potential target genes. Among them, forkhead box O3 (<i>FOXO3</i>), ankyrin repeat domain 1 (<i>ANKRD1</i>), and insulin-induced 1 (<i>INSIG1</i>) genes were differentially expressed at different developmental stages and were enriched in Gene Ontology (GO) terms, such as cell differentiation and cellular developmental process. The data showed that tyrosine 3-monooxygenase/tryptophan 5-monooxygenase activation protein gamma (<i>YWHAG</i>), BUB1 mitotic checkpoint serine/threonine kinase (<i>BUB1</i>), and growth arrest and DNA damage-inducible 45 (<i>GADD45</i>) genes were enriched in the cell cycle pathway. 6. It can be speculated that miR-30a-3p plays roles through these genes in myoblast development. This research provides information for further improving knowledge of the chicken muscle development regulation network.