Sonia J Moisá
I come from Argentina, a country where beef production is a pivotal agricultural production system. I have been interested in learning about animal production since I was very young even though I was raised in a populated city, with no access nearby to farms. Today, after many years of education in animal and ruminant nutrition, I believe that I am better positioned and with the tools necessary to contribute to generating new approaches for enhancing the efficiency of animal production. From my perspective, better “efficiency” not only refers to optimizing use of nutrients for making an animal more efficient but also health and well-being of the animal, thus, allowing me to do my bit in the intention to benefit animal agriculture.With a degree in animal production and a Ph.D. in animal sciences, my background includes general animal physiology, molecular biology, and cellular metabolism. I have concentrated my studies in muscle growth and developmental physiology because of my profound interest in adipose tissue development and muscle growth and function. My last projects as a graduate student were based on cow-calf operations using offspring muscle samples to study fetal programming effects on gene expression in beef cattle. Currently, I am doing a postdoc related to animal behavior and immunology in dairy calves focusing the area of my research on epigenetic regulation. I have broad teaching and mentoring experience. While my background is in ruminant nutrition, it is within my ability to teach diverse topics, including but not limited to animal physiology and anatomy, endocrinology, molecular biology, and cell function, as well development of upper-level courses and seminars. My interest in animal biology and science allowed me to pursue a master’s degree in animal science and afterwards, a Ph.D. in animal sciences, where my research focused on beef ruminant nutrition and gene expression, more specifically beef nutrigenomics. Currently, I am an assistant professor at Auburn University focusing my research in beef nutriepigenomics.
Supervisors: Juan Loor and Lindsey Hulbert
Supervisors: Juan Loor and Lindsey Hulbert
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Papers by Sonia J Moisá
assess the association between bovine respiratory disease (BRD) and hematologic biomarkers, including plasma haptoglobin
(Hp) and plasma bactericide (PB). At each location, heifer or bull dairy calves were observed 2–4 times per week until
confirmed as BRD-positive using parallel interpretation of thoracic ultrasound examination and auscultation. In addition,
control calves were enrolled after being confirmed as BRD-negative using ultrasound and auscultation. Complete blood
counts (CBC), PB, and Hp concentrations were measured. Hp values were higher in calves with confirmed BRD than
in controls (p < 0.01). The area under the curve (AUC) for the various biomarkers was obtained from the corresponding
receiver operating characteristic curves. The AUC for Hp was 0.68, a value greater than those for PB or the remaining
CBC parameters, indicating that Hp may be the most useful biomarker of BRD in pre-weaned dairy calves. The cutoff
value for Hp was 0.195 g/L.
microarray analysis was performed on LM samples of early (EW) and normal weaned (NW) Angus × Simmental calves born to grazing cows receiving no supplement [low plane of nutrition (LPN)] or 2.3 kg high-grain mix/day [medium plane of nutrition (MPN)] during the last 105 days of gestation. Biopsies of LM were harvested at 78 (EW), 187 (NW) and 354 (before slaughter) days of age. Despite greater feed intake in MPN offspring, blood insulin was greater in LPN offspring. Carcass intramuscular fat content was greater in EW offspring. Bioinformatics analysis of the transcriptome highlighted a modest overall response to maternal plane of nutrition, resulting in only 35 differentially expressed genes (DEG). However, weaning age and a high-grain diet (EW) strongly impacted the transcriptome (DEG = 167), especially causing a lipogenic program activation. In addition, between 78 and 187 days of age, EW steers had an activation of the innate immune system due presumably to macrophage infiltration of intramuscular fat. Between 187 and 354 days of age (the “finishing” phase), NW steers had an activation of the lipogenic transcriptome machinery, while EW steers had a clear inhibition through the epigenetic control of histone acetylases.
Results underscored the need to conduct further studies to understand better the functional outcome of transcriptome changes induced in the offspring by pre- and post-natal nutrition. Additional knowledge on molecular and functional outcomes would help produce more efficient beef cattle.
compartments (NMCs: R1, R2, R3, R4) of pig semitendinosus muscle. Barrows from the INTA-MGC genetic line (Argentina) were slaughtered at 100 kg body weight. In each NMC the following parameters were determined: the fibre types I, IIA, IIX and IIB by immunohistochemistry, the fibre cross sectional area (FCSA), the pH of meat after 24 h post-mortem (pH24), instrumental meat tenderness (WB) and colour (L*, a*, b*). There were significant differences in the following: L* (R1 = R4<R2 = R3), a* (R1>R4>R2 =R3), b* (R1 = R4<R2 = R3), WB (R2>R1 = R3 = R4), pH24 (R1 = R4>R2 = R3). The relative percentages of FCSA were as follows: I (R4>R1>R3>R2), IIA (R1>R4>R3>R2), IIX (R1 = R2 = R3 = R4) and IIB (R2>R3>R1>R4). The correlation values were statistically significant between IIB and WB (R1 and R4, rs = 0.66), (R2 and R3 rs = 0.74), IIB and L* (R1 and R4 rs = 0.84), IIX and L* without discriminating NMCs. Our data suggest that the NMC where the sampling takes place is important for determining meat quality traits because of the heterogeneity of the whole muscle. (Key Words : Anatomy, Neuromuscular Compartment, Fibre Muscle, Meat Quality,
Pig)
pattern of microRNA (miR) associated with
cellular proliferation, lipid metabolism, and innate
immunity in dairy cow mammary gland tissue at different
stages of lactation. The expression of miR-10a,
miR-15b, miR-16, miR-21, miR-31, miR-33b, miR-145,
miR-146b, miR-155, miR-181a, miR-205, miR-221, and
miR-223 was studied by real-time reverse-transcription
PCR in tissue (n = 7/stage) harvested via repeated
biopsies during the dry period (−30 d prepartum), the
fresh period (7 d postpartum), and early lactation (30
d postpartum). Except for miR-31, all miR studied increased
in expression between the dry and fresh periods.
Among those upregulated, the expression of miR-221
increased further at early lactation, suggesting a role
in the control of endothelial cell proliferation or angiogenesis,
whereas the expression of miR-223 decreased
at early lactation but to a level that was greater than
in the dry period, suggesting it could play a role in the
mammary response to pathogens soon after parturition.
The expression of miR-31, a hormonally regulated
miR that inhibits cyclin gene expression, was greater
at early lactation compared with the dry period. From
a metabolic standpoint, the consistent upregulation of
miR-33b during early lactation compared with the dry
period suggests that this miR may exert some control
over lipogenesis in mammary tissue. Overall, results
indicate that expression of miR associated with transcriptional
regulation of genes across diverse biological functions is altered by stage of lactation. The specific roles of these miR during lactation will require further
research.
noncoding RNA with important roles in regulating
innate immunity in nonruminants via transcriptional
and posttranscriptional mechanisms. Mastitis causes
significant losses in the dairy industry and a wealth of
large-scale mRNA expression data from mammary tissue
have provided fundamental insights into the tissue
adaptations to pathogens. We studied the expression
of 14 miRNA (miR-10a, -15b, -16a, -17, -21, -31, -145,
-146a, -146b, -155, -181a, -205, -221, and -223) associated
with regulation of innate immunity and mammary
epithelial cell function in tissue challenged with
Streptococcus uberis. Those data, along with microarray
expression of 2,102 differentially expressed genes, were
used for bioinformatics analysis to uncover putative
target genes and the most affected biological pathways
and functions. Three miRNA (181a, 16, and 31) were
downregulated approximately 3- to 5-fold and miR-223
was upregulated approximately 2.5-fold in infected versus
healthy tissue. Among differentially expressed genes
due to infection, bioinformatics analysis revealed that
the studied miRNA share in the regulation of a large
number of metabolic (SCD, CD36, GPAM, and FASN),
immune/oxidative stress (TNF, IL6, IL10, SOD2, LYZ,
and TLR4), and cellular proliferation/differentiation
(FOS and CASP4) target genes. This level of complex
regulation was underscored by the coordinate effect
revealed by bioinformatics on various cellular pathways
within the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes
database. Most pathways associated with “cellular proprocesses,”
“organismal systems,” and “diseases” were activated
by putative target genes of miR-31and miR-16a,
with an overlapping activation of “immune system”
and “signal transduction.” A pronounced effect and
activation of miR-31 target genes was observed within
“folding, sorting, and degradation,” “cell growth and
death,” and “cell communication” pathways, whereas
a marked inhibition of “lipid metabolism” occurred.
Putative targets of miR-181a had a strong effect on
FcγR-mediated phagocytosis, toll-like receptor signaling,
and antigen processing and presentation, which
were activated during intramammary infections. The
targets of both miR-31 and miR-223 had an inhibitory
effect on “lipid metabolism.” Overall, the combined
analyses indicated that changes in mammary tissue
immune, metabolic, and cell growth-related signaling
pathways during infection might have been mediated in
part through effects of miRNA on gene transcription.
Differential expression of miRNA supports the view
from nonruminant cells/tissues that certain miRNA
might be essential for the tissue’s adaptive response to
infection.
such as separation from the sow, mixing with other litters, end
of lactational immunity, and a change in their environment
and gut microbiota. The sudden change of feeding regime
after weaning causes morphological and histological changes
in the small intestine which are critical for the immature
digestive system. Sixteen female piglets were studied to assess
the effect of sorbic acid supplementation on the small intestine
tissue transcriptome. At weaning day (T0, piglet age 28 days),
four piglets were sacrificed and ileal tissue samples collected.
The remaining 12 piglets were weighed and randomly
assigned to different postweaning (T5, piglet age 33 days)
diets. Diet A (n=6) contained 5 g/kg of sorbic acid. In diet B
(n=6), the organic acids were replaced by barley flour. Total
RNA was isolated and then hybridized to CombiMatrix
CustomArray™ 90-K platform microarrays, screening about
30 K genes. Even though diet had no detectable effect on the
transcriptome during the first 5 days after weaning, results
highlighted some of the response mechanisms to the stress of
weaning occurring in the piglet gut. A total of 205 differentially
expressed genes were used for functional analysis using the
bioinformatics tools BLAST2GO, Ingenuity Pathway Analysis
8.0, and Dynamic Impact Approach (DIA). Bioinformatic analysis
revealed that apoptosis, RIG-I-like, and NOD-like receptor
signaling were altered as a result of weaning. Interferons and
caspases gene families were the most activated after weaning in response to piglets to multiple stressors. Results suggest that
immune and inflammatory responses were activated and likely
are a cause of small intestine atrophy as revealed by a decrease in villus height and villus/crypt ratio.
during bovine mastitis. This systems approach also could help identify biomarkers for monitoring clinical and
subclinical mastitis. The aim of the present study was to use isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification
(iTRAQ) to screen potential proteins associated with mastitis at late infectious stage.
Results: Healthy and mastitic cows’ mammary gland tissues were analyzed using iTRAQ combined with
two-dimensional liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (2D-LC-MS/MS). Bioinformatics analyses of
differentially expressed proteins were performed by means of Gene Ontology, metabolic pathways, transcriptional
regulation networks using Blast2GO software, the Dynamic Impact Approach and Ingenuity Pathway Analysis. At a
false discovery rate of 5%, a total of 768 proteins were identified from 6,499 peptides, which were matched with
15,879 spectra. Compared with healthy mammary gland tissue, 36 proteins were significantly up-regulated
(>1.5-fold) while 19 were significantly down-regulated (<0.67-fold) in response to mastitis due to natural infections
with Staphylococci aureus. Up-regulation of collagen, type I, alpha 1 (COL1A1) and inter-alpha (Globulin) inhibitor H4
(ITIH4) in the mastitis-infected tissue was confirmed by Western blotting and Immunohistochemistry.
Conclusion: This paper is the first to show the protein expression in the late response to a mastitic pathogen, thus,
revealing mechanisms associated with host tissue damage. The bioinformatics analyses highlighted the effects of
mastitis on proteins such as collagen, fibrinogen, fibronectin, casein alpha and heparan sulfate proteoglycan 2. Our
findings provide additional clues for further studies of candidate genes for mastitis susceptibility. The up-regulated
expression of COL1A1 and ITIH4 in the mastitic mammary gland may be associated with tissue damage and repair
during late stages of infection.
assess the association between bovine respiratory disease (BRD) and hematologic biomarkers, including plasma haptoglobin
(Hp) and plasma bactericide (PB). At each location, heifer or bull dairy calves were observed 2–4 times per week until
confirmed as BRD-positive using parallel interpretation of thoracic ultrasound examination and auscultation. In addition,
control calves were enrolled after being confirmed as BRD-negative using ultrasound and auscultation. Complete blood
counts (CBC), PB, and Hp concentrations were measured. Hp values were higher in calves with confirmed BRD than
in controls (p < 0.01). The area under the curve (AUC) for the various biomarkers was obtained from the corresponding
receiver operating characteristic curves. The AUC for Hp was 0.68, a value greater than those for PB or the remaining
CBC parameters, indicating that Hp may be the most useful biomarker of BRD in pre-weaned dairy calves. The cutoff
value for Hp was 0.195 g/L.
microarray analysis was performed on LM samples of early (EW) and normal weaned (NW) Angus × Simmental calves born to grazing cows receiving no supplement [low plane of nutrition (LPN)] or 2.3 kg high-grain mix/day [medium plane of nutrition (MPN)] during the last 105 days of gestation. Biopsies of LM were harvested at 78 (EW), 187 (NW) and 354 (before slaughter) days of age. Despite greater feed intake in MPN offspring, blood insulin was greater in LPN offspring. Carcass intramuscular fat content was greater in EW offspring. Bioinformatics analysis of the transcriptome highlighted a modest overall response to maternal plane of nutrition, resulting in only 35 differentially expressed genes (DEG). However, weaning age and a high-grain diet (EW) strongly impacted the transcriptome (DEG = 167), especially causing a lipogenic program activation. In addition, between 78 and 187 days of age, EW steers had an activation of the innate immune system due presumably to macrophage infiltration of intramuscular fat. Between 187 and 354 days of age (the “finishing” phase), NW steers had an activation of the lipogenic transcriptome machinery, while EW steers had a clear inhibition through the epigenetic control of histone acetylases.
Results underscored the need to conduct further studies to understand better the functional outcome of transcriptome changes induced in the offspring by pre- and post-natal nutrition. Additional knowledge on molecular and functional outcomes would help produce more efficient beef cattle.
compartments (NMCs: R1, R2, R3, R4) of pig semitendinosus muscle. Barrows from the INTA-MGC genetic line (Argentina) were slaughtered at 100 kg body weight. In each NMC the following parameters were determined: the fibre types I, IIA, IIX and IIB by immunohistochemistry, the fibre cross sectional area (FCSA), the pH of meat after 24 h post-mortem (pH24), instrumental meat tenderness (WB) and colour (L*, a*, b*). There were significant differences in the following: L* (R1 = R4<R2 = R3), a* (R1>R4>R2 =R3), b* (R1 = R4<R2 = R3), WB (R2>R1 = R3 = R4), pH24 (R1 = R4>R2 = R3). The relative percentages of FCSA were as follows: I (R4>R1>R3>R2), IIA (R1>R4>R3>R2), IIX (R1 = R2 = R3 = R4) and IIB (R2>R3>R1>R4). The correlation values were statistically significant between IIB and WB (R1 and R4, rs = 0.66), (R2 and R3 rs = 0.74), IIB and L* (R1 and R4 rs = 0.84), IIX and L* without discriminating NMCs. Our data suggest that the NMC where the sampling takes place is important for determining meat quality traits because of the heterogeneity of the whole muscle. (Key Words : Anatomy, Neuromuscular Compartment, Fibre Muscle, Meat Quality,
Pig)
pattern of microRNA (miR) associated with
cellular proliferation, lipid metabolism, and innate
immunity in dairy cow mammary gland tissue at different
stages of lactation. The expression of miR-10a,
miR-15b, miR-16, miR-21, miR-31, miR-33b, miR-145,
miR-146b, miR-155, miR-181a, miR-205, miR-221, and
miR-223 was studied by real-time reverse-transcription
PCR in tissue (n = 7/stage) harvested via repeated
biopsies during the dry period (−30 d prepartum), the
fresh period (7 d postpartum), and early lactation (30
d postpartum). Except for miR-31, all miR studied increased
in expression between the dry and fresh periods.
Among those upregulated, the expression of miR-221
increased further at early lactation, suggesting a role
in the control of endothelial cell proliferation or angiogenesis,
whereas the expression of miR-223 decreased
at early lactation but to a level that was greater than
in the dry period, suggesting it could play a role in the
mammary response to pathogens soon after parturition.
The expression of miR-31, a hormonally regulated
miR that inhibits cyclin gene expression, was greater
at early lactation compared with the dry period. From
a metabolic standpoint, the consistent upregulation of
miR-33b during early lactation compared with the dry
period suggests that this miR may exert some control
over lipogenesis in mammary tissue. Overall, results
indicate that expression of miR associated with transcriptional
regulation of genes across diverse biological functions is altered by stage of lactation. The specific roles of these miR during lactation will require further
research.
noncoding RNA with important roles in regulating
innate immunity in nonruminants via transcriptional
and posttranscriptional mechanisms. Mastitis causes
significant losses in the dairy industry and a wealth of
large-scale mRNA expression data from mammary tissue
have provided fundamental insights into the tissue
adaptations to pathogens. We studied the expression
of 14 miRNA (miR-10a, -15b, -16a, -17, -21, -31, -145,
-146a, -146b, -155, -181a, -205, -221, and -223) associated
with regulation of innate immunity and mammary
epithelial cell function in tissue challenged with
Streptococcus uberis. Those data, along with microarray
expression of 2,102 differentially expressed genes, were
used for bioinformatics analysis to uncover putative
target genes and the most affected biological pathways
and functions. Three miRNA (181a, 16, and 31) were
downregulated approximately 3- to 5-fold and miR-223
was upregulated approximately 2.5-fold in infected versus
healthy tissue. Among differentially expressed genes
due to infection, bioinformatics analysis revealed that
the studied miRNA share in the regulation of a large
number of metabolic (SCD, CD36, GPAM, and FASN),
immune/oxidative stress (TNF, IL6, IL10, SOD2, LYZ,
and TLR4), and cellular proliferation/differentiation
(FOS and CASP4) target genes. This level of complex
regulation was underscored by the coordinate effect
revealed by bioinformatics on various cellular pathways
within the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes
database. Most pathways associated with “cellular proprocesses,”
“organismal systems,” and “diseases” were activated
by putative target genes of miR-31and miR-16a,
with an overlapping activation of “immune system”
and “signal transduction.” A pronounced effect and
activation of miR-31 target genes was observed within
“folding, sorting, and degradation,” “cell growth and
death,” and “cell communication” pathways, whereas
a marked inhibition of “lipid metabolism” occurred.
Putative targets of miR-181a had a strong effect on
FcγR-mediated phagocytosis, toll-like receptor signaling,
and antigen processing and presentation, which
were activated during intramammary infections. The
targets of both miR-31 and miR-223 had an inhibitory
effect on “lipid metabolism.” Overall, the combined
analyses indicated that changes in mammary tissue
immune, metabolic, and cell growth-related signaling
pathways during infection might have been mediated in
part through effects of miRNA on gene transcription.
Differential expression of miRNA supports the view
from nonruminant cells/tissues that certain miRNA
might be essential for the tissue’s adaptive response to
infection.
such as separation from the sow, mixing with other litters, end
of lactational immunity, and a change in their environment
and gut microbiota. The sudden change of feeding regime
after weaning causes morphological and histological changes
in the small intestine which are critical for the immature
digestive system. Sixteen female piglets were studied to assess
the effect of sorbic acid supplementation on the small intestine
tissue transcriptome. At weaning day (T0, piglet age 28 days),
four piglets were sacrificed and ileal tissue samples collected.
The remaining 12 piglets were weighed and randomly
assigned to different postweaning (T5, piglet age 33 days)
diets. Diet A (n=6) contained 5 g/kg of sorbic acid. In diet B
(n=6), the organic acids were replaced by barley flour. Total
RNA was isolated and then hybridized to CombiMatrix
CustomArray™ 90-K platform microarrays, screening about
30 K genes. Even though diet had no detectable effect on the
transcriptome during the first 5 days after weaning, results
highlighted some of the response mechanisms to the stress of
weaning occurring in the piglet gut. A total of 205 differentially
expressed genes were used for functional analysis using the
bioinformatics tools BLAST2GO, Ingenuity Pathway Analysis
8.0, and Dynamic Impact Approach (DIA). Bioinformatic analysis
revealed that apoptosis, RIG-I-like, and NOD-like receptor
signaling were altered as a result of weaning. Interferons and
caspases gene families were the most activated after weaning in response to piglets to multiple stressors. Results suggest that
immune and inflammatory responses were activated and likely
are a cause of small intestine atrophy as revealed by a decrease in villus height and villus/crypt ratio.
during bovine mastitis. This systems approach also could help identify biomarkers for monitoring clinical and
subclinical mastitis. The aim of the present study was to use isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification
(iTRAQ) to screen potential proteins associated with mastitis at late infectious stage.
Results: Healthy and mastitic cows’ mammary gland tissues were analyzed using iTRAQ combined with
two-dimensional liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (2D-LC-MS/MS). Bioinformatics analyses of
differentially expressed proteins were performed by means of Gene Ontology, metabolic pathways, transcriptional
regulation networks using Blast2GO software, the Dynamic Impact Approach and Ingenuity Pathway Analysis. At a
false discovery rate of 5%, a total of 768 proteins were identified from 6,499 peptides, which were matched with
15,879 spectra. Compared with healthy mammary gland tissue, 36 proteins were significantly up-regulated
(>1.5-fold) while 19 were significantly down-regulated (<0.67-fold) in response to mastitis due to natural infections
with Staphylococci aureus. Up-regulation of collagen, type I, alpha 1 (COL1A1) and inter-alpha (Globulin) inhibitor H4
(ITIH4) in the mastitis-infected tissue was confirmed by Western blotting and Immunohistochemistry.
Conclusion: This paper is the first to show the protein expression in the late response to a mastitic pathogen, thus,
revealing mechanisms associated with host tissue damage. The bioinformatics analyses highlighted the effects of
mastitis on proteins such as collagen, fibrinogen, fibronectin, casein alpha and heparan sulfate proteoglycan 2. Our
findings provide additional clues for further studies of candidate genes for mastitis susceptibility. The up-regulated
expression of COL1A1 and ITIH4 in the mastitic mammary gland may be associated with tissue damage and repair
during late stages of infection.