Prediction of essential liver transcription factors in response to fat
deposition in pigs based on a changes in transposase-accessible
chromatin signals
Abstract
Pigs have been improved throughout decades by increasing meat content in
the carcasses. However, this has led to a reduction in fat levels,
particularly intramuscular fat (IMF), which is crucial for flavor. The
current study, utilized combined RNA-ATAC sequencing analyses to
identify possible key transcription factors (TFs) that regulate
important molecular mechanisms in the liver associated with fat
deposition in pig bodies. In the study were used native pigs Złotnicka
White, which is not under selection pressure. RNA-seq identified 272
genes as differentially expressed (DEGs, showing >1.2 FC).
ATAC-seq identified 6,333 significant peaks (DAR – differentially
accessible regions) in TSS flanking region. 98 genes were overlapped
between RNA and ATAC seq data and these significant DEGs-DARs were
further included into motif analysis. TRRUST and MEME tools were used to
identify crucial TFs, which predicted possible binding TF motifs based
on transcription start site ATAC signals. The candidate TFs for fat
deposition in pigs suggested in the present study are SREBP1, ATF4,
KLF11, RORA and MYC, which were enriched due to TSS ATAC signals.
Moreover, for TFs MYC, ATF4 and, KLF11, ATAC signals within
transcription start site flanking regions were identified.