Molecular characterization and differential expression patterns of the goat Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) gene during different growth stages

- Cloned and characterized the caprine NGF gene, with all the three exons Indian goats, which comprised of 935 bp
- NGF sequence is highly conserved among ruminants, implicating the similar biological functioning of the gene in ruminants.
- NGF mRNA expression levels were significantly higher in the muscle of three month goats compared to six and nine months (P < 0.01)

Muscle cells cause trophic actions on nerve cells of the developing peripheral nervous system through the expression of neurotrophins, also known as target derived factors. The aim of the present study was to investigate the expression of caprine NGF gene in muscles for different growth stages and molecular cloning of the complete mRNA, including all the three exons of caprine NGF gene in Malabari, an indigenous goat breed of India. In this study, we cloned and characterized the NGF gene (GenBank Accession No: KM881705), which comprised of 935 bp, codes for 241 amino acids peptide. Phylogenetic studies showed that NGF is highly conserved among ruminants, implicating the similar biological functioning of the gene in ruminants. NGF peptide sequence showed six serine, four threonine phosphorylation sites and shown to have one motif, viz., VCVLS (230-234 aa) has putative interaction with SUMO protein. Out of the 30 lysine residue, one at 75th position was predicted to be ubiquitylated. The three dimensional structure of goat NGF protein segment was also predicted. NGF mRNA expression levels were significantly higher in the muscle tissue of three month goats compared to six and nine, indicating its crucial role in growth (P < 0.01). The results suggest that the NGF may be an important gene for growth and provides useful information for further studies on their roles in skeletal muscle development in goats.