RNA, or ribonucleic acid, is a fundamental molecule involved in various biological processes in horses, including gene expression, protein synthesis, and regulation of cellular activities. RNA plays a critical role in translating genetic information from DNA into proteins, which are essential for maintaining cellular function and overall health in horses. There are different types of RNA, such as messenger RNA (mRNA), transfer RNA (tRNA), and ribosomal RNA (rRNA), each serving distinct functions within the cell. Research on RNA in horses focuses on understanding its role in development, disease mechanisms, and potential therapeutic applications. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the structure, function, and implications of RNA in equine biology and health.
McGivney BA, Eivers SS, MacHugh DE, MacLeod JN, O'Gorman GM, Park SD, Katz LM, Hill EW.Selection for exercise-adapted phenotypes in the Thoroughbred racehorse has provided a valuable model system to understand molecular responses to exercise in skeletal muscle. Exercise stimulates immediate early molecular responses as well as delayed responses during recovery, resulting in a return to homeostasis and enabling long term adaptation. Global mRNA expression during the immediate-response period has not previously been reported in skeletal muscle following exercise in any species. Also, global gene expression changes in equine skeletal muscle following exercise have not been reported...
BMC research notesDecember 11, 2009
Volume 2 246 doi: 10.1186/1756-0500-2-246
Smits K, Goossens K, Van Soom A, Govaere J, Hoogewijs M, Vanhaesebrouck E, Galli C, Colleoni S, Vandesompele J, Peelman L.Application of reverse transcription quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction is very well suited to reveal differences in gene expression between in vivo and in vitro produced embryos. Ultimately, this may lead to optimized equine assisted reproductive techniques. However, for a correct interpretation of the real-time PCR results, all data must be normalized, which is most reliably achieved by calculating the geometric mean of the most stable reference genes. In this study a set of reliable reference genes was identified for equine in vivo and fresh and frozen-thawed in vitro embryos....
Salim B, Bakheit MA, Kamau J, Nakamura I, Sugimoto C.This is a molecular epidemiological investigation on Theileria equi, a causative agent of equine piroplasmosis. Blood samples were collected from 127 horses from different geographical locations in Sudan. The small subunit of rRNA gene (18S; ~1,600 bp) was amplified from 20 positive field samples and subsequently subjected to direct sequencing and analysis to reveal possible strain differences and the presence of a novel species or genotypes. Sequences were compared with published sequences mainly from South African and Spanish isolates. Eleven distinct T. equi sequences within 18S rRNA gene w...
Moe KK, Yano T, Kuwano A, Sasaki S, Misawa N.Equine canker is a chronic pododermatitis of the hoof in horses. Although spirochetes are detectable histopathologically in the lesions, the precise etiology remains unclear. This study reports the 16S rRNA gene sequencing of randomly selected clones based on PCR with Treponema-specific primers, using the canker lesions from two horses and healthy frog and sole from a horse. A total of 114 clones were obtained from the lesions, but no clones were detected in the healthy hoof tissues. The clones from the canker lesions examined were grouped into 19 operational taxonomic units, such as treponema...
Gläser KE, Sun Q, Wells MT, Nixon AJ.No large scale equine microarray is available commercially to allow genomic and transcriptional profiling of the majority of genes that would define the genetic basis of equine disease. Objective: To generate a whole transcript target labelled GeneChip to interrogate the equine transcriptome and validate chip performance using RNA samples derived from organs, articular cells and normal cartilage. Methods: Equine mRNA and selected equine gene sequences derived from perfect cross-hybridisation of equine RNA on human microarray GeneChips, were used to design a custom equine gene microarray. Seque...
Woodward AD, Holcombe SJ, Steibel JP, Staniar WB, Colvin C, Trottier NL.To test the hypothesis that AA transporter transcripts are present in the large intestine and similarly expressed along the intestinal tract, mRNA abundance of candidate AA transporter genes solute carrier (SLC) family 7, member 9 (SLC7A9), SLC7A1, SLC7A8, and SLC43A1 encoding for b(0,+)-type AA transporter (b(0,+)AT), cationic AA transporter-1 (CAT-1), L-type AA transporter-2 (LAT-2), and L-type AA transporter-3 (LAT-3), respectively, was determined in small and large intestinal segments of the horse. Mucosa was collected from the equine small (jejunum and ileum) and large intestine (cecum, l...
Sentsui H, Wu D, Murakami K, Kondo T, Matsumura T.Recombinant equine interferon-gamma (reIFN-gamma) was prepared using a baculovirus expression system and its antiviral activity was investigated using several equine viruses. The reIFN-gamma suppressed the replication of all equine viruses used in the present experiment in horse cell cultures, but did not affect the growth of host cells at concentrations of less than 1000 u/ml. A strong antiviral effect was observed, especially against RNA viruses. Equine picornavirus, equine rhinovirus and equine arteritis virus could not be propagated at all in 100 u/ml reIFN-gamma when 100 TCID(50) of infec...
Thorson JF, Karren BJ, Bauer ML, Cavinder CA, Coverdale JA, Hammer CJ.To investigate the maternal plane of nutrition and role of Se yeast on foaling variables and passive transfer of IgG, 28 Quarter Horse mares were used in a study with a randomized complete block design. Mares were blocked by expected foaling date and assigned randomly within block to dietary treatments. Dietary treatments were arranged as a 2 x 2 factorial with 2 planes of nutrition, pasture or pasture + grain mix (fed at 0.75% of BW on an as-fed basis) and 2 concentrations of Se yeast (0 or 0.3 mg/kg of DMI). This resulted in 4 treatments: pasture (PA), pasture + Se (PS), pasture + grain mix ...
Brosnahan MM, Damiani A, van de Walle G, Erb H, Perkins GA, Osterrieder N.Available vaccines fail to induce lasting and protective immunity to equine herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) associated diseases. RNA interference is a novel approach showing promise for therapeutic use in outbreak situations. This study examined the effect of small interfering RNA (siRNA) on clinical signs as well as the presence of live virus and viral DNA in nasal secretions and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in horses experimentally infected with EHV-1. siRNA targeting two EHV-1 genes (glycoprotein B and the origin binding protein) was administered 12h before and 12h after intranasal infe...
Ramery E, Fievez L, Fraipont A, Bureau F, Lekeux P.The long pentraxin 3 (PTX3) plays an important role in host defence and its over-expression may contribute to airway injury. The aim of the present study was therefore to characterize in more detail PTX3 and its expression in the horses' airway. Six healthy horses and six horses affected by recurrent airway obstruction (R.A.O.) were submitted to a dusty environment challenge. PTX3 DNA and cDNA were cloned and sequenced. PTX3 expression was evaluated by RT-qPCR, Western blotting and immunohistochemistry in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) cells, BALF supernatant and bronchial epithelial cell...
Eivers SS, McGivney BA, Fonseca RG, MacHugh DE, Menson K, Park SD, Rivero JL, Taylor CT, Katz LM, Hill EW.Intense selection for elite racing performance in the Thoroughbred horse (Equus caballus) has resulted in a number of adaptive physiological phenotypes relevant to exercise; however, the underlying molecular mechanisms responsible for these characteristics are not well understood. Adaptive changes in mRNA expression in equine skeletal muscle were investigated by real-time qRT-PCR for a panel of candidate exercise-response genes following a standardized incremental-step treadmill exercise test in eight untrained Thoroughbred horses. Biopsy samples were obtained from the gluteus medius before, i...
Lu Z, Chambers TM, Boliar S, Branscum AJ, Sturgill TL, Timoney PJ, Reedy SE, Tudor LR, Dubovi EJ, Vickers ML, Sells S, Balasuriya UB.The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate new TaqMan real-time reverse transcription-PCR (rRT-PCR) assays by the use of the minor groove binding probe to detect a wide range of equine influenza virus (EIV) strains comprising both subtypes of the virus (H3N8 and H7N7). A total of eight rRT-PCR assays were developed, targeting the nucleoprotein (NP), matrix (M), and hemagglutinin (HA) genes of the two EIV subtypes. None of the eight assays cross-reacted with any of the other known equine respiratory viruses. Three rRT-PCR assays (EqFlu NP, M, and HA3) which can detect strains of th...
Graham NS, Clutterbuck AL, James N, Lea RG, Mobasheri A, Broadley MR, May ST.Affymetrix GeneChip arrays are a powerful tool for transcriptome profiling and have been applied to a wide range of species. A genomic DNA (gDNA)-based probe selection method has been developed which broadens the range of species to which GeneChips may be successfully applied. This study demonstrated that gDNA-based probe selection on the Affymetrix U133+2 GeneChip array can be used to study the equine transcriptome which, to date, has received only limited attention. More than 29,000 transcripts can be detected in equine brain and liver and in primary cultures of equine articular chondrocytes...
Mienaltowski MJ, Huang L, Frisbie DD, McIlwraith CW, Stromberg AJ, Bathke AC, Macleod JN.Full-thickness articular cartilage lesions that reach to the subchondral bone yet are restricted to the chondral compartment usually fill with a fibrocartilage-like repair tissue which is structurally and biomechanically compromised relative to normal articular cartilage. The objective of this study was to evaluate transcriptional differences between chondrocytes of normal articular cartilage and repair tissue cells four months post-microfracture. Methods: Bilateral one-cm2 full-thickness defects were made in the articular surface of both distal femurs of four adult horses followed by subchond...
Peretich AL, Abbott LL, Andrews FM, Dhar MS.To determine whether expression of mRNA for sodium-potassium adenosine-triphosphatase (NAKA) and sodium-hydrogen exchanger (NHE) in samples of the nonglandular portion of the equine gastric mucosa was altered by exposure to volatile fatty acids (VFAs) in an acidic environment. Methods: 10 horses (5 or = 12 years old). Methods: Samples of the nonglandular portion of the gastric mucosa were collected and exposed in Ussing chambers to Ringer's solution (control samples), Ringer's solution containing a mixture of VFAs (pH, 1.5 or 4.0), or Ringer's solution containing acetic acid (pH, 1.5 or 4.0)....
Tompkins D, Hudgens E, Horohov D, Baldwin CL.This report describes the initial cloning and characterization of the equine interleukin-17 (IL-17) expressed gene sequence from mRNA obtained from equine intestinal tissue and interleukin-23 (IL-23) expressed gene sequence from mRNA obtained from equine peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Equine IL-17 has 462 nucleotides in the translated region, determined by homology with known human and mouse sequences, and shares 84% and 75% identity, respectively. For the deduced amino acid sequences, the identity with human and mouse is 76% and 70%. Equine IL-23 has 579 nucleotides in the translated reg...
Lin M, Zhang C, Gibson K, Rikihisa Y.Neorickettsia risticii is an obligate intracellular bacterium of the trematodes and mammals. Horses develop Potomac horse fever (PHF) when they ingest aquatic insects containing encysted N. risticii-infected trematodes. The complete genome sequence of N. risticii Illinois consists of a single circular chromosome of 879 977 bp and encodes 38 RNA species and 898 proteins. Although N. risticii has limited ability to synthesize amino acids and lacks many metabolic pathways, it is capable of making major vitamins, cofactors and nucleotides. Comparison with its closely related human pathogen N. senn...
Echigoya Y, Sato T, Itou T, Endo H, Sakai T.The species-specific properties of LDH isozymes are essentially determined by M (muscle) and H (heart) subunit proteins encoded by the LDHA and LDHB genes, respectively. In the present study, we molecularly characterized the full-length equine lactate dehydrogenase A (eLDHA) and B (eLDHB) cDNAs. The eLDHA cDNA consisted of a 999-bp open reading frame (ORF), while the eLDHB and newly acquired bat LDHB consisted of a 1002-bp ORF, which is 3 bp shorter than the LDHB ORF of other registered mammals. The alignment of amino acid sequences showed that eLDHA acquired positively charged His 88 and 226,...
Gobeil PA, Yuan Z, Gault EA, Morgan IM, Campo MS, Nasir L.Equine sarcoids are skin tumours of horses caused by infection with BPV-1 or 2. Maintenance and replication of the viral genome depend upon the viral proteins E1 and E2. We examined the effects of an E2 specific siRNA on E2 and E1 viral gene expression, viral load and cell growth in BPV-1 transformed sarcoid-derived cells. Transfection with E2-siRNA caused a reduction in E2 and E1 mRNA expression as well as viral load, growth inhibition and decreased anchorage-independent growth. siRNA treated cells showed significantly higher apoptosis rates than control cells. Thus sequence specific targetin...
van den Burg MM, Eizema K, de Graaf-Roelfsema E, van Breda E, Wijnberg ID, van der Kolk JH, Everts ME.To investigate the effects of acute exercise and long-term training on Na(+),K(+)-ATPase content, mRNA isoforms, and protein concentration in equine muscle. Methods: 6 Standardbreds. Methods: Horses performed a bout of exercise on a treadmill before and after 18 weeks of combined interval and endurance training. Muscle biopsy specimens were obtained from vastus lateralis muscle (VLM) and pectoralis descendens muscle (PDM) before and after exercise. The Na(+),K(+)-ATPase content, mRNA isoforms, and protein concentrations were determined by use of [(3)H]ouabain binding, real-time PCR assay, and ...
Venter M, Human S, Zaayman D, Gerdes GH, Williams J, Steyl J, Leman PA, Paweska JT, Setzkorn H, Rous G, Murray S, Parker R, Donnellan C, Swanepoel R.Serologic evidence suggests that West Nile virus (WNV) is widely distributed in horses in southern Africa. However, because few neurologic cases have been reported, endemic lineage 2 strains were postulated to be nonpathogenic in horses. Recent evidence suggests that highly neuroinvasive lineage 2 strains exist in humans and mice. To determine whether neurologic cases are being missed in South Africa, we tested 80 serum or brain specimens from horses with unexplained fever (n = 48) and/or neurologic signs (n = 32) for WNV. From March 2007 through June 2008, using reverse transcription-PCR (RT-...
Hanly BK, Stokes AM, Bell AM, Johnson JR, Keowen ML, Paulsen DB, Sod GA, Moore RM.To determine the feasibility of performing serial laminar and skin biopsies on sedated horses and whether sampling affected adjacent tissues. Methods: 6 horses. Methods: Laminar tissues were harvested via biopsy through the hoof wall from healthy conscious horses via sedation and regional anesthesia. Eight specimens were collected at 4 time points during 24 hours from a single foot. Laminar biopsy specimens were harvested with a 6-mm-diameter biopsy punch after burring through the horny corium to the stratum medium. Skin biopsy specimens were collected from an area proximal to the coronary ban...
Fachal MV, Furlan M, Clark R, Card CE, Chedrese PJ.The objective of this investigation was to clone and express the elk and horse common alpha-subunit and FSH beta-subunit cDNAs, and to produce recombinant FSH from both species in vitro. The RNAs extracted from elk and horse pituitary glands were reverse-transcribed and amplified by polymerase chain reaction. The cDNAs corresponding to both subunits of elk and horse were cloned into the expression vector pBudCE4.1 and transfected into CRL-9096 cells. Expression of both genes was determined in the transfected cells by Northern and Western blot analysis. Recombinant elk and horse FSH secreted in...
Zhou M, Wang Q, Sun J, Li X, Xu L, Yang H, Shi H, Ning S, Chen L, Li Y, He T, Zheng Y.The importance of microRNAs at the post-transcriptional regulation level has recently been recognized in both animals and plants. We used the simple but effective sequential method of first Blasting known animal miRNAs against the horse genome and then using the located candidates to search for novel miRNAs by RNA folding method in the vicinity (+ -500 bp) of the candidates. Here, a total of 407 novel horse miRNA genes including 354 mature miRNAs were identified, of these, 75 miRNAs were grouped into 32 families based on seed sequence identity. MiRNA genes tend to be present as clusters in som...
Miragliotta V, Raphaël K, Ipiña Z, Lussier JG, Theoret CL.Wound healing in horses is complicated, particularly when wounds are on the limb. The objectives of this study were to clone equine thrombospondin II (THBS2) and secreted protein acidic and cysteine-rich (SPARC) cDNAs and to compare the spatiotemporal expression of mRNAs and proteins during repair of body and limb wounds. These molecules were targeted in view of their potential biological contribution to angiogenesis, which is exacerbated during the repair of limb wounds in horses. Cloning was achieved by screening size-selected cDNA libraries previously derived from 7-day-old wounds. Expressi...
Ma J, Jiang C, Lin Y, Wang X, Zhao L, Xiang W, Shao Y, Shen R, Kong X, Zhou J.To study the in vivo evolution of the attenuated Chinese equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) vaccine, viral gp90 gene variation and virus replication in immunosuppressed hosts were investigated. The results showed that after vaccination, the gp90 gene followed an evolutionary trend of declining diversity. The trend coincided with the maturation of immunity to EIAV, and eventually, the gp90 gene became highly homologous. The sequences of these predominant quasispecies were consistently detected up to 18 months after vaccination. Furthermore, after transient immune suppression with dexamethaso...
Ealy AD, Eroh ML, Sharp DC.The equine embryo must signal its presence to the uterus for pregnancy to continue to term. Mobility of the conceptus throughout the uterus is crucial for its survival, and this action presumably permits the conceptus to transmit its antiluteolytic signal to the endometrium. Studies were completed to establish whether this unidentified antiluteolytic signal targets prostaglandin G/H synthase 2 (PGHS2), a rate limiting enzyme in converting arachidonic acid to prostaglandins (PGs). In the first study, quantitative RT-PCR was used to determine the relative abundance of PGHS2 mRNA in endometrium d...
Figueiredo MD, Salter CE, Andrietti AL, Vandenplas ML, Hurley DJ, Moore JN.Quantification of gene expression using real-time reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) is a reliable method to monitor cellular responses to pro-inflammatory stimuli. The main objective of this study was to validate a set of equine primer pairs that can be routinely used to monitor expression of genes that are central to inflammatory and immune responses. This paper describes the steps used to optimize and validate 29 equine primer pairs for RT-qPCR assays using SYBR Green detection. To validate these assays, monocytes were isolated from three horses and stimulated with Escherichia...
Aradaib IE.A nested reverse transcriptase (RT) polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), for rapid detection of African horse sickness virus (AHSV) double-stranded ribonucleic acid (dsRNA) in cell culture and tissue samples, was developed and evaluated. Using an outer pair of primers (P1 and P2), selected from genome segment three of AHSV serotype 6 (AHSV-6), the RT-PCR-based assay resulted in amplification of a 890 base pair (bp) primary PCR product. RNAs from the nine vaccine strains of AHSV, and a number of AHSV field isolates including the Central African isolates of AHSV-9 and AHSV-6, propagated in cell c...
Zhang YW, Davis EG, Bai J.Quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) has become a basic, reliable and sensitive modern technique, in both biological research and clinical diagnosis, for investigation of gene expression and validation of cDNA microarray analysis. Accurate mRNA quantification using quantitative RT-PCR commonly requires data normalization through stable housekeeping genes (HKGs). Selection of HKGs for data normalization is critical for accurate mRNA quantification. Our objective was to evaluate a set of candidate HKGs as internal controls for gene expression studies using quanti...
Koepf EK, Hewitt J, Vo H, Macgillivray RT, Burtnick LD.We have generated and characterized the cDNA from equine smooth muscle that encodes gelsolin, an actin-modulating protein. Overlapping cDNA clones synthesized by the reverse transcriptase/polymerase chain reaction and clones isolated from a horse genomic library provided the complete primary structure for the intracellular isoform of gelsolin, while cDNA complemented with protein sequence data produced the full-length primary transcript of the gelsolin isoform found circulating in equine plasma. The deduced amino acid sequences of the intracellular and secreted versions of equine gelsolin infe...
Choi I, Collante WR, Simmen RC, Simmen FA.Pig blastocysts exhibit a transient period of estrogen production at periimplantation, with a second, more sustained period of estrogen synthesis occurring in endometrium and placenta at later pregnancy. Previously we reported the isolation of cDNA clones encoding a novel isoform of cytochrome P450 aromatase (the terminal enzyme in the estrogen biosynthetic pathway) from porcine periimplantation blastocysts. The present study investigated pregnancy-associated expression, in blastocysts and maternal reproductive tract tissues of this and an additional mRNA transcript encoding a distinct P450 ar...
Alshahrani SH, Alameri AA, Kahar F, Alexis Ramírez-Coronel A, Fadhel Obaid R, Alsaikhan F, Zabibah RS, Qasim QA, Altalbawy FMA, Fakri Mustafa Y....Recently in vivo and in vitro studies have provided evidence establishing the significance of microRNAs (miRNAs) in both physiological and pathological conditions. In this regard, the role of miRNA-128 (miR-128) in health and diseases has been found, and its critical regulatory role in the context of some viral diseases has been recently identified. For instance, it has been found that miR-128 can serve as an antiviral mediator and significantly limit the replication and dissemination of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). Besides, it has been noted that poliovirus receptor-related 4 ...
Holl HM, Gao S, Fei Z, Andrews C, Brooks SA.Laminitis, the structural failure of interdigitated tissue that suspends the distal skeleton within the hoof capsule, is a devastating disease that is the second leading cause of both lameness and euthanasia in the horse. Current transcriptomic research focuses on the expression of known genes. However, as this tissue is quite unique and equine gene annotation is largely derived from computational predictions, there are likely yet uncharacterized transcripts that may be involved in the etiology of laminitis. In order to create a novel annotation resource, we performed whole transcriptome seque...
Smith KJ, Bertone AL, Weisbrode SE, Radmacher M.To identify patterns and correlations of gross, histologic, and gene expression characteristics of articular cartilage from horses with osteoarthritis. Methods: 10 clinically normal horses and 11 horses with osteoarthritis of the metacarpal condyles. Methods: Metacarpophalangeal joints were opened and digitally photographed, and gross lesions were scored and quantified. Representative cartilage specimens were stained for histologic scoring. Total RNA from dorsal and palmar articular surfaces was processed on an equine gene expression microarray. Results: Histologic scores were greater in both ...
Park JW, Song KD, Kim NY, Choi JY, Hong SA, Oh JH, Kim SW, Lee JH, Park TS, Kim JK, Kim JG, Cho BW.Since athletic performance is a most importance trait in horses, most research focused on physiological and physical studies of horse athletic abilities. In contrast, the molecular analysis as well as the regulatory pathway studies remain insufficient for evaluation and prediction of horse athletic abilities. In our previous study, we identified receptor tyrosine kinase () gene which was expressed as alternative spliced isoforms in skeletal muscle during exercise. In the present study, we validated two alternative splicing transcripts (named as for long form and for short form) in equine s...
Ihm Y, Sparks WO, Lee JH, Cao H, Carpenter S, Wang CZ, Ho KM, Dobbs D.Rev is an essential regulatory protein in the equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) and other lentiviruses, including HIV-1. It binds incompletely spliced viral mRNAs and shuttles them from the nucleus to the cytoplasm, a critical prerequisite for the production of viral structural proteins and genomic RNA. Despite its important role in production of infectious virus, the development of antiviral therapies directed against Rev has been hampered by the lack of an experimentally-determined structure of the full length protein. We have used a combined computational and biochemical approach to gen...
Sviatchenko VA, Agapov EV, Urmanov IKh, Serpinskiĭ OI, Frolov IV, Kolykhalov AA, Ryzhikov AB, Netesov SV.A recombinant strain of vaccinia virus (VR26) containing a DNA-copy of the subgenomic 26S RNA of Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis virus (VEE) inserted into the coding region of thymidine kinase (TK) gene was produced. This subgenomic RNA contained the genes for all structural proteins of the VEE virus, the strain Trinidad donkey (TRD). VR26 effectively expressed VEE virus glycoproteins on the membranes of the infected cells. Blood sera of VR26-immunized animals were found to contain VEE virus-specific antibodies. VR26-immunized mice and rabbits showed a high level of resistance to subcutane...
Beckelmann J, Budik S, Bartel C, Aurich C.Until now, sex determination in equine embryos has been performed by detection of Y-chromosome-specific sequences only. In the present study, expression of a Barr-body-specific marker, the X-inactivated-specific transcript (Xist) gene, whose gene product consists of RNA which coats and thereby inactivates one of the X chromosomes, was investigated in equine embryos produced in vivo. Preattachment embryos at different times after ovulation (Day 8: n = 9; Day 10: n = 12; Day 12: n = 15) were analyzed for Xist RNA expression using quantitative and qualitative reverse transcription-polymerase chai...
Thorson JF, Karren BJ, Bauer ML, Cavinder CA, Coverdale JA, Hammer CJ.To investigate the maternal plane of nutrition and role of Se yeast on foaling variables and passive transfer of IgG, 28 Quarter Horse mares were used in a study with a randomized complete block design. Mares were blocked by expected foaling date and assigned randomly within block to dietary treatments. Dietary treatments were arranged as a 2 x 2 factorial with 2 planes of nutrition, pasture or pasture + grain mix (fed at 0.75% of BW on an as-fed basis) and 2 concentrations of Se yeast (0 or 0.3 mg/kg of DMI). This resulted in 4 treatments: pasture (PA), pasture + Se (PS), pasture + grain mix ...
Myćka G, Ropka-Molik K, Cywińska A, Szmatoła T, Stefaniuk-Szmukier M.Recent studies have shown that in Arabian horse muscle, long-term exercise-induced expression of genes related to fatty acid degradation and the downregulation of genes belonging to the glycolysis/gluconeogenesis and insulin signalling pathways. Long-lasting physical exertion may trigger the metabolism to switch the main energy source from carbohydrates to lipids due to higher caloric content. Objective: To describe the metabolism adaptation at the whole transcriptome of blood to endurance effort in Arabian horses. Methods: In vivo experiment. Methods: Venous blood samples from 10 Arabian hors...
Jo A, Lee HE, Kim HS.Horses (Equus caballus) have been domesticated and bred to enhance speed, strength, and agility. Members of the Equus caballus Endogenous Retrovirus (EqERV) family affect several of these abilities in horses. EqERV elements have been integrated in the horse genome during evolution and generate repeat elements such as long terminal repeats (LTRs). LTR sequences are involved in retrovirus replication and play an essential function in post-transcriptional control mechanisms, such as by providing binding sites for microRNAs (miRNAs) or generating miRNA precursors. In this study, we identified a no...
Fitzgibbon JE, Sagripanti JL.The development of a method in macroarray format for the identification of alphaviruses and orthopoxviruses in samples of concern in biodefense is reported. Capture oligonucleotides designed to bind generic members of the orthopox- or alphavirus families and a collection of additional oligonucleotides to bind specifically nucleic acids from five individual alphaviruses, including Venezuelan equine encephalitis, or DNA from each of four orthopoxviruses, including variola virus (VAR) were deposited onto nylon membranes. Hybridization of digoxigenin labeled PCR products to the macroarray produced...
Lin YZ, Yang F, Zhang SQ, Sun LK, Wang XF, Du C, Zhou JH.Equine lentivirus receptor 1 (ELR1) has been identified as the sole receptor for equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) and is a member of the tumor necrosis factor receptor (TNFR) superfamily. In addition to the previously described membrane-associated form of ELR1, two other major alternative splicing variant mRNAs were identified in equine monocyte-derived macrophages (eMDMs). One major spliced species (ELR1-IN) contained an insertion of 153 nt, which resulted in a premature stop codon situated 561 nt upstream of the predicted membrane spanning domain. The other major species (ELR1-DE) has a...
Chen Y, Caporali E, Stewart M.Bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2) is critical for skeletal and cartilage development, homeostasis and repair. This study was conducted to clone and characterize equine BMP-2, develop expression constructs for equine BMP-2, and to determine whether BMP-2 can stimulate chondrogenesis of equine synovial membrane-derived progenitor cells (SMPC). Methods: Equine BMP-2 cDNA was amplified from chondrocyte RNA, and then transferred into an expression plasmid and adenoviral vector. Effective expression of equine BMP-2 was confirmed using a BMP reporter cell line. SMPC were isolated from synovium, ex...
Zhang J, Go YY, Huang CM, Meade BJ, Lu Z, Snijder EJ, Timoney PJ, Balasuriya UB.A stable full-length cDNA clone of the modified live virus (MLV) vaccine strain of equine arteritis virus (EAV) was developed. RNA transcripts generated from this plasmid (pEAVrMLV) were infectious upon transfection into mammalian cells, and the resultant recombinant virus (rMLV) had 100% nucleotide identity to the parental MLV vaccine strain of EAV. A single silent nucleotide substitution was introduced into the nucleocapsid gene (pEAVrMLVB), enabling the cloned vaccine virus (rMLVB) to be distinguished from parental MLV vaccine as well as other field and laboratory strains of EAV by using an...
Gregg SR, Barshick MR, Johnson SE.Following strenuous exercise, skeletal muscle experiences an acute inflammatory state that initiates the repair process. Systemic hyaluronic acid (HA) is injected to horses routinely as a joint anti-inflammatory. To gain insight into the effects of HA on skeletal muscle, adult Thoroughbred geldings (n = 6) were injected with a commercial HA product weekly for 3 weeks prior to performing a submaximal exercise test. Gluteal muscle (GM) biopsies were obtained before and 1 h after exercise for gene expression analysis and HA localization. The results from RNA sequencing demonstrate differences in ...
Caballero-Gómez J, Rivero-Juárez A, Cano-Terriza D, Fajardo T, Buono F, Jose-Cunilleras E, García J, Alguacil E, Rivero A, García-Bocanegra I. (HEV) is an important emerging zoonotic virus in Europe. Although domestic pigs and wild boar are the main reservoirs of this pathogen, susceptibility to this virus has been confirmed in a growing number of animal species, including equines. However, their role in the epidemiology of this virus remains poorly understood. Our aim was to assess HEV circulation and identify potential risk factors associated with exposure in equid species in different European countries. A total of 596 equines, including 496 horses, 63 donkeys and 37 mules/hinnies bred in four European countries (Spain, Italy, Un...
Wang T, Meng J, Peng X, Huang J, Huang Y, Yuan X, Li X, Yang X, Chang X, Zeng Y, Yao X.Yili horses, a versatile breed from Xinjiang, China, are renowned for their racing abilities. However, studies on the links between cardiac morphology, function, and metabolic profiles with performance are limited. This study combined echocardiographic, transcriptomic, and metabolomic analyses to explore these relationships in high-level, average, and untrained Yili horses. Echocardiographic assessments revealed increased left ventricular mass in trained horses, with significant differences in intraventricular septal thickness and left ventricular end-diastolic diameter. RNA sequencing identif...
Ropka-Molik K, Stefaniuk-Szmukier M, Szmatoła T, Piórkowska K, Bugno-Poniewierska M.Arabian horses are commonly believed to be one of the oldest and the most popular horse breeds in the world, characterized by favourable stamina traits and exercise phenotypes. During intensive training, the rates of lactate production and utilization are critical to avoid muscle fatigue and a decrease in exercise performance. The key factor determining transmembrane lactate transport is the monocarboxylate transporter 1 protein coded for by the SLC16A1 gene. The aim of the present research was to identify polymorphisms in the coding sequence and UTRs in the equine SLC16A1 gene and to evaluate...
Cheevers WP, Roberson SM, Brassfield AL, Davis WC, Crawford TB.A virus with the morphologic and biochemical properties of the family Retroviridae has been isolated from cultured cells explanted from a malignant tumor induced by intradermal inoculation of equine sarcoid cells into a combined immunodeficient Arabian foal. By electron microscopy, intracytoplasmic, extracellular, and budding particles measuring 89 to 120 nm with electron-lucent cores were seen. Virus purified from the medium of cultured cells had a buoyant density of 1.15 g/cm3 in isopycnic sucrose-gradient centrifugation, incorporated radiolabeled uridine but not thymidine, and had constitut...
Gömer A, Delarocque J, Puff C, Nocke MK, Reinecke B, Baumgärtner W, Cavalleri JMV, Feige K, Steinmann E, Todt D.More than 70 million people worldwide are still infected with the hepatitis C virus 30 years after its discovery, underscoring the need for a vaccine. To develop an effective prophylactic vaccine, detailed knowledge of the correlates of protection and an immunocompetent surrogate model are needed. In this study, we describe the minimum dose required for robust equine hepacivirus (EqHV) infection in equids and examined how this relates to duration of infection, seroconversion, and transcriptomic responses. To investigate mechanisms of hepaciviral persistence, immune response, and immune-media...
Takagi M, Hoshi A, Ohta C, Shirahata T, Goto H, Urasawa T, Taniguchi K, Urasawa S.An epizootic of foal diarrhea due to serotype 3 rotavirus (RV) was observed in 89 of 168 cases (53%) during the period from March to July in 1987. A total of 51 strains of RV were isolated from the 62 diarrheal feces examined, and one isolate (CH-3) showed a unique electropherotype of viral RNA which differed from the others that widely prevailed on this farm. No positive reaction was observed between strain CH-3 and each of the antisera against serotypes 1 to 12 of human and animal RV in neutralization tests. However, dsRNAs of the CH-3 virus were hybridized with a probe prepared from a strai...
Hollis AR, Starkey MP.MicroRNAs are small noncoding RNAs that play a pivotal role in diverse cellular processes through post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. The dysregulation of specific microRNAs is associated with disease development and progression. In this review, we summarise how microRNAs modulate gene expression, and explain microRNA nomenclature. We discuss the potential applications of microRNAs in equine disease diagnosis and treatment, in the context of the sum of current knowledge about microRNA expression in normal and diseased equine tissues.
Ing NH, Forrest DW, Love CC, Varner DD.Stallions are unique among livestock in that, like men, they commonly receive medical treatment for subfertility. In both species, about 15% of individuals have normal semen parameters but are subfertile, indicating a need for novel analyses of spermatozoa function. One procedure for improving fertilizing capability of stallions and men is isolation of dense spermatozoa from an ejaculate for use in artificial insemination. In the current study, dense and less dense spermatozoa were purified by density gradient centrifugation from individual ejaculates from seven reproductively normal adult sta...
Lu Z, Timoney PJ, White J, Balasuriya UB.Equine rhinitis viruses A and B (ERAV and ERBV) are common equine respiratory viruses belonging to the family Picornaviridae. Sero-surveillance studies have shown that these two viral infections are prevalent in many countries. Currently, the diagnosis of ERAV and ERBV infections in horses is mainly based on virus isolation (VI). However, the sensitivity of VI testing varies between laboratories due to inefficient viral growth in cell culture and lack of cytopathic effect. Therefore, the objective of this study was to develop molecular diagnostic assays (real-time RT-PCR [rRT-PCR] and conventi...
