Glucocorticoid receptor is involved in the breed-dependent transcriptional regulation of mtDNA- and nuclear-encoded mitochondria genes in the liver of newborn piglets

Background Mitochondria, which are essential for the functionality of eukaryotic cells, are particularly important in metabolically active tissues such as liver. Different breeds of pigs demonstrate distinct metabolic profiles in the liver, yet little is known whether the expression and transcriptional regulation of mitochondrial genes differ between breeds. Results Here we used male newborn Large White (LW) and Erhualian (EHL) piglets to delineate the difference in hepatic mitochondrial gene regulation between breeds. The hepatic content of ATP was significantly higher (p IDH2) and ATP synthase, H+ transporting, mitochondrial Fo complex, subunit d (ATP5H) were expressed significantly lower, while adenylate kinase 1 (AK1) was significantly over expressed in EHL piglets. Compared to LW, the over expression of mtDNA-encoded genes in EHL was associated with significantly higher (p AK1 and ATP5H. Moreover, higher expression of AK1 in EHL piglets was also associated with lower cytosine methylation (p Conclusions These results indicate a role of the GR in the breed-dependent regulation of mitochondrial genes in the liver of newborn piglets.