RXRα cooperates with KLF8 to promote the differentiation of intramuscular preadipocytes in goat.

Retinoid X receptor α (α) is thought to be a key regulator in lipid metabolism, glucose metabolism, adipogenic differentiation, gene expression, and inflammatory response. However, it is not clear whether α has any role in intramuscular preadipocyte of goat. In the current investigation, we report that adenovirus overexpression of α promotes lipid accumulation in intramuscular adipocyte and up-regulates the expression of positive indicator genes (γ and 4). Next, knockdown of α does not affect adipogenesis of intramuscular adipocyte. This phenomenon may be caused by the compensatory increase of γ. In addition, we found that 8 mediates the positive role of α. Knockdown of 8 by siRNA attenuated the effect of α on adipocyte differentiation. Importantly, the promoter activity of 8 is enhanced when overexpression of α. Taken together, our data suggest that α promotes the differentiation of intramuscular preadipocytes in goat through targeting 8, but it could be replaced by γ. These results provide new insights into the quality improvement of goat meat.