ABSTRACT
This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of dietary supplementation with rice bran, flax seed, or sunflower seed to finishing native Korean cattle (Hanwoo) on growth performances, carcass characteristics, fatty acid composition, free amino acid and peptide contents, and sensory evaluations of Longissimus muscle (LM). A total of 39 Hanwoo steers (average age of 22.2 mo and average body weight (BW) of 552.2 kg) were randomly divided into Control, rice bran (RB), flax seed (FS), or Sunflower seed (SS) groups. The steers were group fed for 273 d until they reached an average age of 31.2 mo. Final BW was 768.2, 785.8, 786.2, and 789.0 kg, and average daily gain was 0.79, 0.85, 0.82, and 0.84 kg for the Control, RS, FS, and SS groups, respectively (p>0.05). Fat thickness of the FS group (19.8 mm) was greater (p<0.05) than that of the other groups. Final yield grade converted into numerical values was 2.0 for the RB group, 1.7 for the Control and SS groups, and 1.4 for the FS group. Marbling degrees for the Control, SS, RB, and FS groups were 5.3, 5.1, 4.7, and 4.6, respectively. Percentages of palmitic acid (C16:0), stearic acid (C18:0), and arachidic acid (C20:0) in the LM were not different among the groups. Palmitoleic (C16:1) acid was higher (p<0.05) in the SS group. The concentration of oleic acid was highest (p<0.05) in the Control group (47.73%). The level of linolenic acid (C18:3) was 2.3 times higher (p<0.05) in the FS group compared to the other groups. Methionine concentration was (p<0.05) higher in FS (1.7 mg/100 g) and SS (1.2 mg/100 g) steers than in the Control or RB groups. Glutamic acid and α-aminoadipic acid (α-AAA) contents were (p<0.05) higher in the FS group compared to the other groups. LM from the FS group had numerically higher (p>0.05) scores for flavor, umami, and overall palatability in sensory evaluations. In conclusion, supplementation of flax seed to diets of finishing Hanwoo steers improved sensory evaluations which might have been caused by increases in flavor related amino acids such as methionine, glutamic acid and α-AAA and peptides, anserine and carnosine, and their complex reactions.
ABSTRACT
STATs (signal transducers and activators of transcription) are proteins with dual functions: signal transducers in the cytoplasm and transcriptional activators in the nucleus. STAT proteins act as transcription factors activated by phosphorylation on its tyrosine residues upon stimulation by various cytokines. The phosphorylated STAT molecules then form homo- or heterodimers through SH2-mediated interaction and translocate into the nucleus to activate the transcription of various target genes. STAT5 recognizes the interferon-gamma activated site TTCNNNGAA (GAS sequence) in the promoter region of the beta-casein gene. Except for prolactin-dependent beta-casein production in mammary gland cells, the biological consequences of STAT5a activation in various systems are not clear. Here we showed that STAT5a was phosphorylated 10 min after desferrioxamine (DFO) treatment, and reached a maximum induction at 4 h in mammary epithelial cells (HC11) and transfected COS-7 cells. Under hypoxic conditions (2% O2), a maximal phosphorylation of STAT5a was observed within 6 h. EMSA (electrophoretic mobility shift assay) showed that DFO or hypoxia enhanced the binding activities of STAT5a DNA to beta-casein gene promoter in mammary epithelial cells (HC11) and transfected COS-7 cells. These results showed that DFO or hypoxia induces tyrosine phosphorylation of STAT5a and also increases the binding activity of STAT5a DNA in mammary epithelial cells. Our data suggest that the STAT5 may act as a mediator in hypoxia-mediated gene expression.