lncRNA Sequencing of Antler Mesenchymal Tissue Revealed that the Regulatory Network of Antler Cell Proliferation and Differentiation

Antlers have been widely studied due to their unique physiological characteristics, such as rapid growth, periodic shedding and regeneration. However, little is known about how antler growth is regulated by long non-coding RNA (lncRNA). The aim of the present study was to identify the lncRNAs expression profile and explore the function of lncRNAs during the antler growth. Herein, RNA-sequencing technology (RNA-seq) was performed on the three growth periods (early developmental period: EP, middle developmental period: MP, later developmental period: LP) of male sika deer (<i>Cervus nippon</i>) antler, 16 differentially expressed lncRNAs (DE lncRNAs) and 11 DE lncRNAs were identified in EP vs MP and MP vs LP related to cell proliferation and cell differentiation, respectively. Finally, lncRNAs-mRNAs co-expression networks were constructed based on the identified DE lncRNAs and their potential trans-target genes. The result reveals that lncRNAs may play diverse roles in different periods of antler growth. It provides a novel perspective for revealing the molecular mechanism of antler growth.

鹿茸因其独特的生理特性（如快速生长、周期性脱落与再生）而被广泛研究。然而，目前对于鹿茸生长如何受长链非编码RNA（long non-coding RNA，lncRNA）调控的机制仍知之甚少。本研究旨在鉴定鹿茸生长过程中的lncRNA表达谱，并探究其在该过程中的功能。本研究针对雄性梅花鹿（*Cervus nippon*）鹿茸的三个生长时期——早期发育期（EP）、中期发育期（MP）与晚期发育期（LP），采用RNA测序技术（RNA-seq）开展检测，最终在EP与MP的比较组中鉴定出16个与细胞增殖相关的差异表达lncRNA（differentially expressed lncRNAs，DE lncRNAs），在MP与LP的比较组中鉴定出11个与细胞分化相关的DE lncRNAs。最后，基于鉴定得到的差异表达lncRNA及其潜在反式靶基因，构建了lncRNA-mRNA共表达网络。研究结果表明，lncRNA可能在鹿茸生长的不同阶段发挥多样化的调控作用，本研究为揭示鹿茸生长的分子机制提供了全新的视角。