Chicken LEAP2 Level Substantially Changes with Feed Intake and May Be Regulated by CDX4 in Small Intestine

• Published in: Animals (Basel) 2022-12, Vol.12 (24), p.3496
• Main Authors: Zheng, Xiaotong, Chen, Ziwei, Zhuang, Wuchao, Zhang, Jilong, He, Jiaheng, Xie, Yinku, Chen, Jianfei
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acyltransferase; Animal husbandry; Antiinfectives and antibacterials; Antimicrobial peptides; Birds; chicken; Chickens; Chicks; Cloning; DNA polymerase; Energy; Energy balance; expression profile; feed intake; Feeds; Gastrointestinal surgery; Gene expression; Genes; Ghrelin; Goats; Growth hormones; Homeostasis; Hypothalamus; Intestinal motility; Intestine; Jejunum; Juveniles; LEAP2; Liver; Livestock; Mammals; Optimization; Peptides; Pituitary; Plasmids; Poultry; regulatory mechanism; Small intestine; Starvation
• ISSN: 2076-2615; 2076-2615
• DOI: 10.3390/ani12243496

Ghrelin O-acyltransferase (GOAT), ghrelin, and GHSR have been reported to play important roles that influence feed intake in mammals. LEAP2, an endogenous antagonist of GHSR, plays an important role in the regulation of feed intake. However, chicken ghrelin has also been reported to have an inhibitory effect on feed intake. The role of the GOAT-Ghrelin-GHSR-LEAP2 axis in chicken-feed intake remains unclear. Therefore, it is necessary to systematically evaluate the changes in the tissue expression levels of these genes under different energy states. In this study, broiler chicks in different energy states were subjected to starvation and feeding, and relevant gene expression levels were measured using quantitative real-time PCR. Different energy states significantly modulated the expression levels of and but did not significantly affect the expression levels of and . A high expression level of was detected in the liver and the whole small intestine. Compared to the fed group, the fasted chicks showed significantly reduced expression levels in the liver and the small intestine; 2 h after being refed, the expression of the fasted chicks returned to the level of the fed group. Transcription factor prediction and results of a dual luciferase assay indicated that the transcription factor CDX4 binds to the promoter region and positively regulates its expression. High expression levels of were detected in the hypothalamus and pituitary. Moreover, we detected highly expressed in the jejunum-this finding has not been previously reported. Thus, GHSR may regulate intestinal motility, and this aspect needs further investigation. In conclusion, this study revealed the function of chicken LEAP2 as a potential feed-intake regulator and identified the potential mechanism governing its intestine-specific expression. Our study lays the foundations for future studies on avian feed-intake regulation.