Abstract:Objective To determine the expression and distribution of IGF-1 gene in different tissues of Tibet minipigs at different ages. Methods The changes of IGF-1 gene expression in different tissues and different growth stages of Tibet minipigs were detected by quantitative real-time fluorescence PCR technology and GAPDH gene was used as the reference. Results (1) The study of sequential expression of IGF-1 gene showed that the lowest expression of IGF-1 gene in muscle tissue was at 0, 0.25, 0.5, 1, and 2 years of age, whereas the highest expression of IGF-1 gene in skin tissue was at 0, 0.25, 0.5 years of age and the highest expression of IGF-1 gene in liver tissue was at 0.1, 2, 3 years of age. (2) IGF-1 gene was expressed in all the 7 examined tissues, and its expression level was in the following decreasing order:skin, lung, liver, kidney, spleen, heart and muscle at 0.25 years of age. The expression of IGF-1 gene in the skin was significantly higher than in other organ tissues (P<0.01). Conclusions The expression of IGF-1 gene of Tibet minipigs showed obvious temporal and spatial specificity.