Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

School of Animal Science

Document Type

Dissertation

Abstract

In this dissertation, we aimed to provide additional insight into the mechanisms of fibrogenesis and adipogenesis based on different animal models to help the discovery of new treatments in cardiovascular disease, beef breeding strategies, and feed nutrition modifications.

Wayu, the Japanese Black cow, are well-known for their high IMF content, while the Brahman cattle have much less marbling. The development of IMF correlated with the increase in the size and number of IMF adipocytes, which have identified to be derived from a group of progenitor cells known as fibro/adipogenic progenitor (FAP) cells because of their bipotent differentiation ability. Interestingly, the FAP group could be further divided into several subpopulations, and one subpopulation of FAPs from Wagyu cattle had lower expression levels for the fibrillar protein and extracellular matrix remodeling (ECM) enzyme genes, but higher pro-adipogenic genes compared to other two breeds, which might be highly associated to the increase in the marbling accumulation.

Excessive adipogenesis along with fibrogenesis in the chicken breast, unlike in the beef steak, would exert an unpleasant impact on the customer’s buy desire. White striping and wooden breast are two muscular myopathies increasing in the last decade that have negatively affected the poultry industry. The present study evaluated the incidences of normal, slight, moderate, and severe white striping and wooden breast.

After myocardial infarction, the massive death of cardiomyocytes leads to cardiac fibroblast proliferation and myofibroblast differentiation, which contributes to the extracellular matrix remodeling of the infarcted myocardium. We recently found that myofibroblasts further differentiated into matrifibrocytes, a newly identified cardiac fibroblast differentiation state. Cardiac fibroblasts of different states have distinct gene expression profiles closely related to their functions.

Date

1-24-2022

Committee Chair

McMillin, Kenneth

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_dissertations.5747

Available for download on Thursday, January 23, 2025

Included in

Meat Science Commons

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