Nevada researchers study cattle microRNA effects on meat quality, human health

Cattle are being used for microRNA research to determine attributes such as meat quality and human health effects.


RENO — A team of scientists at the University of Nevada, Reno are investigating how cattle microRNAs and the genes they influence affect the human body and health. MicroRNAs are small RNA molecules involved in the regulation of gene expression that convert DNA code into proteins that carry out cellular functions, such as development, differentiation, growth and metabolism.


In cooked and digested beef, the team will identify microRNAs that may be absorbed by the intestines and further regulate pathways associated to cancer, coronary artery disease, apoptosis of cardiac cells, repression of breast cancer, inflammatory diseases and diabetes.



“We’re also looking for what modulates sensory traits like flavor and tenderness,” de Mello said. “So we’re looking for microRNAs for tenderness and will silence the gene so it doesn’t let the meat get tough.”



As part of the project led by animal scientist and Assistant Professor of Agriculture Mozart Fonseca, the team remodeled the Main Station Field Laboratory feedlot to meet the needs of the research, adding gates, electronic water troughs, a weather station, new fences, panels on fences to minimize wind and a shade structure for the animals. The 900-acre Field Lab in east Reno is part of the College’s Experiment Station. Among other things, it is home to 520 cattle, of which 24 are being used in this study. All 24 cattle were pasture fed, and then as their 110-day finishing diet, 12 were grass fed and 12 were corn fed.



While Fonseca is responsible for conducting the animal feeding trials at the Main Station Field Lab and for calculations for statistical and mathematical modeling, de Mello and Bradley Ferguson, in the college’s nutrition department, will identify the microRNAs in digested beef that may be associated with human diseases and possibly absorbed by the human intestines after cooking and digestion. De Mello is also responsible for evaluating quality parameters of the meat and identifying the microRNAs and genes of interest that modulate genes affecting tenderness and intramuscular fat deposition. Tong Zhou, from the university’s School of Medicine, will develop models evaluating which microRNAs can silence specific genes.

Ultimately, their project will identify what animal diet affects the expression or suppression of desirable microRNAs from a human nutrition standpoint, and hypothesize nutrigenomic effects on human health.

The work began in January 2020 and will run through the end of 2021, and is funded by the College’s Experiment Station and Hatch Act funds.



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