Transcriptome-based analysis of the effects of interference with FABP1 gene on intramuscular fat deposition in pigs

【Objective】 The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect mechanism of FABP1 gene on the biological function of intramuscular adipocytes in pigs,and to provide reference basis for further study on the regulatory role of FABP1 on intramuscular fat deposition and lipid metabolism in pigs.【Method】The sh-FABP1 interfering vector and empty vector sh-NC were transfected into Xiangsu crossbred pig intramuscular adipocytes respectively. 36 h later,the transfected intramuscular adipocytes were collected and total RNA was extracted using TRIzol^® Reagent total RNA extraction kit. After the samples passed quality inspection,1 µg of total RNA per sample was prepared for sequencing. Bioinformatics was then used to perform gene expression level analysis(gene expression level calculation,correlation assessment between samples),gene differential expression analysisdifferentially expressed genes(DEGs)screening and statistics, DEGs volcano map,and functional enrichment analysis(GO enrichment analysis,KEGG enrichment analysis). Finally,four up-regulated genes and four down-regulated genes were selected for validation of transcriptome sequencing data by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR.【Result】 A total of 1129 DEGs were screened between sh-FABP1 and sh-NC. Compared with the sh-NC group,there were 624 up-regulated genes in sh-FABP1,including PRKAR2A,ACSL5, ELOVL5 and MAPK1;and 505 down-regulated genes,including LPL,FABP3,IGFBP4 and OLR1. Functional enrichment analysis of DEGs between sh-FABP1 and sh-NC was performed. KEGG enrichment revealed that up-regulated genes were mainly enriched in cell cycle,tumor suppressor protein(p53),and Notch signaling pathways,while down-regulated genes were mainly enriched in peroxisome proliferator activated receptor(PPAR),and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinaseprotein kinase B(PI3K-Akt)signaling pathways. GO annotation showed that 22,15 and 9 GO terms were significantly enriched in biological process(BP),cellular component(CC),and molecular function(MF)respectively(P<0.05,the same below). This revealed that GO terms associated with fat deposition with significant differences included biological adhesion,biological regulation,regulation of biological process,and metabolic process.【Conclusion】The FABP1 gene may regulate lipid production and metabolism by regulating the expression of related genes such as LPL,FABP3, IGFBP4 and OLR1,and then regulate pathways related to fat deposition and lipid metabolism.