Ren Hongyan, Zhang Haoyuan, Hua Zaidong, Zhu Zhe, Tao Jiashu, Xiao Hongwei, Zhang Liping, Bi Yanzhen, Wang Heng
Key Laboratory of Animal Embryo Engineering and Molecular Breeding of Hubei Province, Institute of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Hubei Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Wuhan 430064, China.
Key Laboratory of Agricultural Animal Genetics, Breeding, and Reproduction of the Ministry of Education, College of Animal Sciences and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
Animals (Basel). 2022 Jan 4;12(1):119. doi: 10.3390/ani12010119.
The intramuscular fat is a major quality trait of meat, affecting sensory attributes such as flavor and texture. Several previous GWAS studies identified Acyl-CoA Synthetase Long Chain Family Member 4 (ACSL4) gene as the candidate gene to regulate intramuscular fat content in different pig populations, but the underlying molecular function of ACSL4 in adipogenesis within pig skeletal muscle is not fully investigated. In this study, we isolated porcine endogenous intramuscular adipocyte progenitors and performed ACSL4 loss- and gain-of-function experiments during adipogenic differentiation. Our data showed that ACSL4 is a positive regulator of adipogenesis in intramuscular fat cells isolated from pigs. More interestingly, the enhanced expression of ACSL4 in pig intramuscular adipocytes could increase the cellular content of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, such as gamma-L eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). The above results not only confirmed the function of ACSL4 in pig intramuscular adipogenesis and meat quality attributes, but also provided new clues for the improvement of the nutritional value of pork for human health.
肌内脂肪是肉的主要品质性状，影响风味和质地等感官特性。此前的几项全基因组关联研究（GWAS）将酰基辅酶A合成酶长链家族成员4（ACSL4）基因确定为不同猪群体中调节肌内脂肪含量的候选基因，但ACSL4在猪骨骼肌脂肪生成中的潜在分子功能尚未得到充分研究。在本研究中，我们分离了猪内源性肌内脂肪细胞祖细胞，并在脂肪生成分化过程中进行了ACSL4功能缺失和功能获得实验。我们的数据表明，ACSL4是从猪分离的肌内脂肪细胞中脂肪生成的正调节因子。更有趣的是，ACSL4在猪肌内脂肪细胞中的表达增强可增加单不饱和脂肪酸和多不饱和脂肪酸的细胞含量，如γ-二十碳五烯酸（EPA）、二十二碳六烯酸（DHA）。上述结果不仅证实了ACSL4在猪肌内脂肪生成和肉质特性中的功能，也为改善猪肉对人类健康的营养价值提供了新线索。
