Homeodomain transcription factors play a significant role in adipocyte differentiation. The role of Pbx1 and Prep1, proteins of the TALE family (the three amino acid loop extension), was previously established in adipocyte differentiation of mesenchymal stromal cells and 3T3-L1 cell line. In this study, with the use of RNA interference technology we show that another transcription factor from the same family, Meis1, which is a core protein of mature cardiomyocytes, represses adipogenesis to a greater degree than its paralog Meis2. A number of Meis target genes, markers of adipocytes, are identified. This may indicate the transcriptional mechanism of the effect of Meis1 on the adipocyte differentiation of mouse preadipocytes.
Keywords: Meis1; Meis2; adipocyte differentiation; chromatin; transcription factor.