Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 4-α, Glucocorticoid Receptor and Heat Shock Protein 70 mRNA Expression during Embryonic Development in Chickens

Glucocorticoids (GCs) play a vital role during embryonic development.Hepatocyte nuclear factor 4 alpha (HNF4α) is a transcription factor that has been shown to be crucial for hepatocyte differentiation and development of the liver.Here we aimed to disclose the differences in embryonic expression of hepatic HNF4-α, glucocorticoid receptor (GR) and heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) between slow and fast growing broiler chickens embryos.Fast-growing chicken and slow-growing chicken eggs were incubated and liver samples from the embryonic development at embryo 10 (E10), (E14), (E18) and day 1 post hatch (D1) were collected.Quantitative PCR used to measure hepatic mRNA expression of GR, HSP70 and HNF4-α.Hepatic mRNA expression of HNF4-α was significantly higher in fast-growing chicken embryos at all the embryonic stages investigated.However, hepatic GR mRNA expression was significantly higher in fast-growing chicken embryos only on E10.Hepatic mRNA expression of HSP70 was significantly (P<0.05)higher in fast-growing chicken embryos at E18 and D1 posthatch stages.Our data may provide the first evidence that hepatic expression of HNF4-α, GR and HSP70 differs between fast-growing and slow-growing chickens embryos, which may account to some extent for the breed disparities in embryonic development.