Table 2.
Summary of top candidate genes for endurance ability in Arabian horses.
| Gene/miRNA symbol | Biological function/pathways/gene family | Population | Associated trait(s) | Methodology/type of analysis | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IL8, EIF4G3, HSP90AA1, RBBP6 | Interleukins, heat shock proteins | Arab endurance horses | Training-induced stress response | cDNA-AFLP RT-PCR |
Cappelli et al., [27] |
| ITGAL, ITGAM, IL22A2, CXCL1, IL1R1, TLR1, EEF1A2, GATA2, BMP2, FLT4, MAP3K4, MAPK14 | Growth factors or the cell cycle regulation molecules, integrin, interleukins, kinases | Pure-breed Arabian horses | Inflammation and immune system activation occur following physical stress in equine athletes | SOLiD whole transcriptome (blood tissue) | Capomaccio et al. [26] |
| ZFP42, SPI1, FOXO3, IRF3, NRF1, miR-21-5p, miR-181b-5p, miR-505-5p | FoxO signalling pathway, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPARγ) signalling pathway, oxidation stress, proteolysis and immune response pathways | Pure-breed or half-breed Arabian | Glucose metabolism, fatty acid oxidation, and immune response exercise adaptation | RNA and miRNA microarrays (blood tissue) | Mach et al., [28] |
| SORCS3, SLC39A12, KCNQ1OT1 | Mitochondrial metabolism, oxidative phosphorylation metabolism, metal ion, cation binding, and haematopoiesis | Pure-breed Arabians and Arabian-cross horses (French population) | Total race distance, average race speed, finishing status, cardiac rhythm | GWAS | Ricard et al., [36] |
| TLR4, FoxO3, CREBBP, RBL2, SIRT1, BCL6, POLR2I, TOR3A, miR-92a-3p, miR-192-5p, miR-21-5p, miR-16-5p, and let-7 family | LPS-induced proinflammatory pathway; energy-purine and pyrimidine catabolism | Pure-breed or half-breed Arabian horses | Physiological adaptation to physical exertion; regulation of metabolic and immune response to endurance exercise | Transcriptome and miRNome NGS sequencing, metabolome (blood tissue) | Mach et al., [33] |
| miR-1, miR-133a-3p, miR-133b, miR-133a, miR-206, miR-208b, miR-224, miR-95, miR-1180, miR-499b-3p, miR-486-3p, miR-486-5p, miR-504-5p | Targeted genes involved in muscle remodeling (EGFR, IGF1, PURB, TAGLN), cellular homeostasis maintenance (SLC5A3, SLC1A2, SLC7A1) | Pure-breed Arabian horses | Biomarkers for exercise adaptation to endurance effort | miRNAome NGS sequencing (blood tissue) | Cappelli et al., [32] |