The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of growth hormone (GH) gene on skeletal muscle cell proliferation of Guizhou cattle. The coding sequence of cattle GH gene was amplified by reverse transcription PCR, cloned into the pUCM-T vector and then used to construct the GH gene overexpression vector pEGFP-N3-GH. The expression of the GH gene in skeletal muscle-related tissues (psoas major and longissimus dorsi) of Guizhou cattle was determined by real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). This was followed by culturing and identification of the bovine primary skeletal muscle cells. Subsequently, we introduced the GH gene overexpression vector into the cells to investigate its effect on the proliferation of bovine skeletal muscle cells and the expression of insulin like growth factor 1 and 2 genes related to skeletal muscle growth and development. RT-qPCR results showed that the expression level of GH gene was higher in the psoas major than in the longissimus dorsi of Guizhou cattle, and the expression level in the psoas major of Guanling cattle and Weining cattle was significantly higher than in the longissimus dorsi (P<0.05). The transfection and proliferation results showed that pEGFP-N3-GH significantly increased the expression of GH, IGF-1, and IGF-2 genes in skeletal muscle cells compared to pEGFP-N3 (PP<0.05), and that overexpression of the GH gene also significantly increased the proliferation rate of skeletal muscle cells at the four periods examined (PP<0.01). Our results suggest that GH gene can promote the proliferation of skeletal muscle cells of Guizhou cattle and exerts a positive regulatory effect. This lays the foundation for further exploring the mechanism by which the GH gene affects the growth and development of Guizhou cattle.
Animals ; Cattle ; Cell Proliferation ; Cloning, Molecular ; Growth Hormone/genetics* ; Insulin-Like Growth Factor I/genetics* ; Muscle, Skeletal