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miR-148a-3p promotes rabbit preadipocyte differentiation by targeting PTEN

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Abstract

Although emerging data support crucial roles for microRNAs (miRNAs) during adipogenesis, the detailed mechanisms remain largely unknown. In this study, it was shown that in rabbits, levels of miR-148a-3p not only increased in white adipose tissue during early stages of growth but also during in vitro cultured preadipocyte differentiation. Furthermore, overexpression of miR-148a-3p significantly upregulated the mRNA levels of PPARγ, C/EBPα, and FABP4, as well as the protein levels of PPARγ, as indicated by qPCR and western blotting analyses. Overexpression of miR-148a-3p also promoted intracellular triglyceride accumulation. In contrast, downregulation of miR-148a-3p inhibited the differentiation of rabbit preadipocytes. Next, based on target gene prediction and a luciferase reporter assay, we further demonstrated that miR-148a-3p directly targeted one of the 3′ untranslated regions of PTEN. Finally, it was observed inhibition of PTEN by siRNA promoted rabbit preadipocyte differentiation. Taken together, our results suggested that miR-148a-3p could be involved in regulating rabbit preadipocyte differentiation through inhibiting expression of PTEN, which further highlighted the importance of miRNAs during adipogenesis.

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Abbreviations

PPAR:

peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor

C/EBP:

CCAAT/enhancer binding protein

FABP4:

fatty acid-binding protein4

PTEN:

tensin homolog

PI3K:

phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase

PIP 3:

phosphatidylinositol-3, 4, 5-trisphosphate

GAPDH:

glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase

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Funding

This work was supported by the earmarked fund for China Agriculture Research System (CARS-44-A-2).

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Correspondence to Yinghe Qin or Songjia Lai.

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All experimental procedures using rabbits in our study were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the College of Animal Science and Technology, Sichuan Agricultural University, China.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Editor: Tetsuji Okamoto

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He, H., Cai, M., Zhu, J. et al. miR-148a-3p promotes rabbit preadipocyte differentiation by targeting PTEN. In Vitro Cell.Dev.Biol.-Animal 54, 241–249 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11626-018-0232-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11626-018-0232-z

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