bta-miR-23a Regulates the Myogenic Differentiation of Fetal Bovine Skeletal Muscle-Derived Progenitor Cells by Targeting MDFIC Gene

miR-23a, a member of the miR-23a/24-2/27a cluster, has been demonstrated to play pivotal roles in many cellular activities. However, the mechanisms of how bta-miR-23a controls the myogenic differentiation (MD) of PDGFRα bovine progenitor cells (bPCs) remain poorly understood. In the present work, bta-miR-23a expression was increased during the MD of bPCs. Moreover, bta-miR-23a overexpression significantly promoted the MD of bPCs. Luciferase reporter assays showed that the 3'-UTR region of (MyoD family inhibitor domain containing) could be a promising target of bta-miR-23a, which resulted in its post-transcriptional down-regulation. Additionally, the knockdown of by siRNA facilitated the MD of bPCs, while the overexpression of inhibited the activating effect of bta-miR-23a during MD. Of note, might function through the interaction between transcription factor and promoter. This study reveals that bta-miR-23a can promote the MD of bPCs through post-transcriptional downregulation of .