1. Academic Validation
  2. Temperature-induced embryonic diapause in chickens is mediated by PKC-NF-κB-IRF1 signaling

Temperature-induced embryonic diapause in chickens is mediated by PKC-NF-κB-IRF1 signaling

  • BMC Biol. 2023 Mar 8;21(1):52. doi: 10.1186/s12915-023-01550-0.
Junxiao Ren 1 Zhengzheng Hu 1 Quanlin Li 1 Shuang Gu 1 Fangren Lan 1 Xiqiong Wang 1 Jianbo Li 1 Junying Li 1 Liwa Shao 1 Ning Yang 2 Congjiao Sun 3
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Animal Genetics and Breeding, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China.
  • 2 Department of Animal Genetics and Breeding, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China. nyang@cau.edu.cn.
  • 3 Department of Animal Genetics and Breeding, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China. cjsun@cau.edu.cn.
Abstract

Background: Embryonic diapause (dormancy) is a state of temporary arrest of embryonic development that is triggered by unfavorable conditions and serves as an evolutionary strategy to ensure reproductive survival. Unlike maternally-controlled embryonic diapause in mammals, chicken embryonic diapause is critically dependent on the environmental temperature. However, the molecular control of diapause in avian species remains largely uncharacterized. In this study, we evaluated the dynamic transcriptomic and phosphoproteomic profiles of chicken embryos in pre-diapause, diapause, and reactivated states.

Results: Our data demonstrated a characteristic gene expression pattern in effects on cell survival-associated and stress response signaling pathways. Unlike mammalian diapause, mTOR signaling is not responsible for chicken diapause. However, cold stress responsive genes, such as IRF1, were identified as key regulators of diapause. Further in vitro investigation showed that cold stress-induced transcription of IRF1 was dependent on the PKC-NF-κB signaling pathway, providing a mechanism for proliferation arrest during diapause. Consistently, in vivo overexpression of IRF1 in diapause embryos blocked reactivation after restoration of developmental temperatures.

Conclusions: We concluded that embryonic diapause in chicken is characterized by proliferation arrest, which is the same with other spices. However, chicken embryonic diapause is strictly correlated with the cold stress signal and mediated by PKC-NF-κB-IRF1 signaling, which distinguish chicken diapause from the mTOR based diapause in mammals.

Keywords

Cell proliferation; Cold stress; Diapause; Embryo; PKC-NF-κB signaling.

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Products
  • Cat. No.
    Product Name
    Description
    Target
    Research Area
  • HY-13689
    99.32%, PKC Inhibitor
    PKC