Transcriptional Regulatory Network Construction and Bioinformatics Analysis of PCSK4 in Baoshan Pig

Purpose To analyze the molecular characteristics, transcriptional expression regulation and protein function of proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 4 (PCSK4) in Baoshan pig.

Methods Based on the full transcriptome data of Baoshan pig testis, the function of PCSK4 was annotated by bioinformatics methods, and the long non-coding RNA and miRNA regulatory network of PCSK4 was constructed.

Results The length of PCSK4 coding sequence was 2 505 bp, encoding 834 amino acids. Protein functional analysis showed that PCSK4 had more random coils and phosphorylation sites. Evolution and neighboring gene analysis showed that PCSK4 was highly conserved in evolution process. Functional enrichment analysis showed that PCSK4 interacted with several proteins (ACRBP, ACR, ADAM2, etc.) involved in the processes such as capacitation, fertilization, and gamete recognition. The expression levels of the corresponding genes of these proteins showed that PCSK4 was significantly correlated with MBTPS1, ACRBP, CDKN2A and DPY19L2. Competitive endogenous RNA regulatory network analysis showed that there were five miRNAs could target and regulate PCSK4, and functional annotation showed that it played an role in reproductive processes, protein processing, fertilization and other functions.

Conclusion This study provides basic data for further study on the important biological processes of PCSK4 in Baoshan pig spermatogenesis, especially fertilization and sperm maturation.