The miR-381 promoted differentiation of caprine skeletal muscle satellite cells (SMSCs). (A) Expression levels of miR-381 and myogenic differentiation marker genes MyHC, MyoG and MEF2C in differentiated caprine SMSCs transfected with miR-381 mimic, miR-381 inhibitor and their corresponding negative control (NC) groups. (B) The effect of miR-381 on the formation of MyHC-positive myotubes detected by anti-MyHC immunofluorescence staining. Relative myotube area (C) and myogenic index (D) of differentiated caprine SMSCs counted by ImageJ software v1.8.0 (NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA). * p < 0.05 and ** p < 0.01.