Quantification of Rib Col1a2 Gene Expression in Healthy and Fluorosed Inner Mongolia Cashmere Goats

Damage to collagen protein and its gene expression caused by excessive fluoride (F) ingestion plays an important role in the etiology of skeletal fluorosis. Recently we found that industrial F pollution significantly increased the expression level of type II collagen gene (COL2A1) in rib cartilage of Inner Mongolia cashmere goats. With the same goats and methods, we have now quantified another important collagen gene, the rib COL1A2 gene, which encodes an α2(I) polypeptide chain assembled into collagen molecules. The results showed that the expression level of COL1A2 and COL1A2/β-actin increased by 88% and 81%, respectively.