Accumulating evidence has indicated that microRNAs (miRNAs) participate in chicken skeletal muscle development by post-transcriptionally regulating myogenesis-related gene expression. Our previous study showed that miR-34c-5p inhibited proliferation and myogenic differentiation of chicken primary myoblasts (CPMs), but its molecular mechanisms remain unclear. Here, miR-34c-5p was overexpressed in CPMs for transcriptome sequencing. The 159 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified and were mainly involved in myogenesis-related processes and signaling pathways, including cytoskeleton regulation, PPAR, and cardiac muscle contraction. Intersection of DEGs and predicted targets of miR-34c-5p yielded 15 candidate genes. Of these, miR-34c-5p could inhibit the mRNA expression of MYH7B and TGM4 genes by directly interact with their 3′ untranslated regions as determined by dual-luciferase reporter systems Gain- and loss-of-function assays demonstrated that TGM4 gene could promote CPMs proliferation. These findings elucidate the regulatory network of miR-34c-5p underlying myogenesis and provide potential molecular marker for genetic improvement of meat production in chicken. • 159 differentially expressed genes by miR-34c-5p overexpression in chicken myoblasts. • There were 15 candidate target genes of miR-34c-5p during chicken myogenesis. • miR-34c-5p directly interact with the 3′ untranslated region of MYH7B and TGM4 genes. • miR-34c-5p inhibits the mRNA expression of MYH7B and TGM4 genes in chicken myoblasts. • TGM4 gene promotes chicken myoblast proliferation.
Li et al. (2026) studied this question.