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miR-125a inhibits porcine preadipocytes differentiation by targeting ERRα

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Abstract

MicroRNAs are a family of small, non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression in a sequence-specific manner. Estrogen-related receptor α (ERRα) is an orphan nuclear receptor which plays an important role in adipocyte differentiation. Our previous Solexa sequencing results indicated a high expression of miR-125a in adult pig backfat. In this study, we predicated and experimentally validated ERRα as a target of miR-125a. To explore the role of miR-125a in porcine preadipocytes differentiation, miRNA agomir and antagomir were used to perform miR-125a overexpression or knockdown, respectively. Our results showed that overexpression of miR-125a could dramatically reduce the mRNA expression of adipogenic markers PPARγ, LPL, and aP2, as well as its target gene ERRα. Western blotting showed the protein level of aP2 and ERRα was also significantly down-regulated. The overexpression of miR-125a also led to a notable reduction in lipid accumulation which was detected by Oil Red O staining. In contrast, we observed promoted differentiation of porcine preadipocytes upon miR-125a inhibition. In conclusion, we verified miR-125a inhibits porcine preadipocytes differentiation through targeting ERRα for the first time, which may provide new insights in pork quality improvement and obesity control.

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Abbreviations

ERRα:

Estrogen-related receptor α

PPARγ:

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ

C/EBPα:

CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein-α

LPL:

Lipoprotein lipase

aP2:

Adipocyte protein 2

FAS:

Fatty acid synthase

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank members of our laboratories for helpful discussions. These studies were supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31101685 and No. 31072014).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Animal Fat Deposition and Muscle Development, College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, China

    Hong-lei Ji, Cheng-Chuang Song, Yue-Feng Li, Jing-jing He, You-lei Li & Gong-she Yang

  2. College of Forestry, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, China

    Xue-li Zheng

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  1. Hong-lei Ji
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Ji, Hl., Song, CC., Li, YF. et al. miR-125a inhibits porcine preadipocytes differentiation by targeting ERRα. Mol Cell Biochem 395, 155–165 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11010-014-2121-4

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