Abstract
Adipose tissue plays central role in determining the gustatory quality of beef, but traditional Chinese beef cattle have low levels of fat content. We applied RNA-seq to study the molecular mechanisms underlying adipocyte differentiation in Qinchuan cattle. A total of 18,283 genes were found to be expressed in preadipocytes and mature adipocytes, respectively. 470 of which were significantly differentially expressed genes (DEGs) [false discovery rate (FDR) values < 0.05 and fold change ≥ 2]. In addition, 4534 alternative splicing (AS) events and 5153 AS events were detected in preadipocytes and adipocytes, respectively. We constructed a protein interaction network, which suggested that collagen plays an important role during bovine adipogenic differentiation. We characterized the function of the most down-regulated DEG (P < 0.001) among genes we have detected by qPCR, namely, the transthyretin (TTR) gene. Overexpression of TTR appears to promote the expression of the peroxisome proliferator activated receptor γ (PPARγ) (P < 0.05) and fatty acid binding Protein 4 (FABP4) (P < 0.05). Hence, TTR appears to be involved in the regulation of bovine adipogenic differentiation. Our study represents the comprehensive approach to explore bovine adipocyte differentiation using transcriptomic data and reports an involvement of TTR during bovine adipogenic differentiation. Our results provide novel insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying bovine adipogenic differentiation.
Highlights
In livestock, there are four major adipose depots – visceral, subcutaneous, intermuscular, and intramuscular fat tissues – which develop by a process called adipogenesis (Fernyhough et al, 2005; Hausman et al, 2009)
After the preadipocytes had proliferated to 100% confluence, the cells were induced by adipogenesis agents
Subcutaneous fat depots determine meat quality, as the degree to which fat is stored in the subcutaneous fat layer correlates negatively with the extent of meat marbling and because subcutaneous fat itself serves as a quality assessment criterion (Jeremiah, 1996)
Summary
In livestock (cattle, sheep, pigs, and others), there are four major adipose depots – visceral, subcutaneous, intermuscular, and intramuscular fat tissues – which develop by a process called adipogenesis (Fernyhough et al, 2005; Hausman et al, 2009). Their occurrence during ontogeny follows the sequence of visceral tissue first, followed by subcutaneous, intermuscular, and eventually intramuscular fat tissues (Hausman et al, 2009). Research on bovine fat tissue formation, provides general insights into the regulatory processes underlying mammalian adipogenesis, but, provides invaluable information for breeding programs aimed at improving the beef
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