Transcriptome Profiling of Developing Ovine Fat Tail Tissue Reveals an Important Role for MTFP1 in Regulation of Adipogenesis

Jiangang Han; Sijia Ma; Benmeng Liang; Tianyou Bai; Yuhetian Zhao; Yuehui Ma; David E MacHugh; Lina Ma; Lin Jiang

doi:10.3389/fcell.2022.839731

Transcriptome Profiling of Developing Ovine Fat Tail Tissue Reveals an Important Role for MTFP1 in Regulation of Adipogenesis

Front Cell Dev Biol. 2022 Mar 8:10:839731. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2022.839731. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Jiangang Han^{1

2}, Sijia Ma³, Benmeng Liang^{1

4}, Tianyou Bai^{1

4}, Yuhetian Zhao^{1

4}, Yuehui Ma^{1

4}, David E MacHugh^{2

5}, Lina Ma⁶, Lin Jiang^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Animal Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Beijing, China.
² Animal Genomics Laboratory, UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science, UCD College of Health and Agricultural Sciences, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
³ Agricultural College, Ningxia University, Yinchuan, China.
⁴ National Germplasm Center of Domestic Animal Resources, Ministry of Technology, Institute of Animal Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Beijing, China.
⁵ UCD Conway Institute of Biomolecular and Biomedical Research, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
⁶ Institute of Animal Science, Ningxia Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Yinchuan, China.

Abstract

Fat-tail sheep exhibit a unique trait whereby substantial adipose tissue accumulates in the tail, a phenotype that is advantageous in many agroecological environments. In this study, we conducted histological assays, transcriptome analysis and functional assays to examine morphogenesis, characterize gene expression, and elucidate mechanisms that regulate fat tail development. We obtained the microstructure of tail before and after fat deposition, and demonstrated that measurable fat deposition occurred by the 80-day embryo (E80) stage, earlier than other tissues. Transcriptome profiling revealed 1,058 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) with six markedly different expression trends. GSEA enrichment and other downstream analyses showed important roles for genes and pathways involving in metabolism and that mitochondrial components were specifically overexpressed in the fat tail tissue of the 70-day embryo (E70). One hundred and eighty-three genes were further identified by leading edge gene analysis, among which, 17 genes have been reported in previous studies, including EEF1D, MTFP1, PPP1CA, PDGFD. Notably, the MTFP1 gene was highly correlated with the expression of other genes and with the highest enrichment score and gene expression change. Knockdown of MTFP1 in isolated adipose derived stem cells (ADSCs) inhibited cell proliferation and migration ability, besides, promoted the process of adipogenesis in vitro.

Keywords: MTFP1; RNA-seq; adipogenesis; fat tail development; mitochondrion.