Global discovery of long noncoding RNAs during bovine adipogenic differentiation

Adipogenesis is a complex and precisely orchestrated process mediated by a network of adipogenic regulatory factors. The recent explosion of knowledge have demonstrated that long noncoding RNA are involved in adipogenic gene regulatory network. However, existing annotations of lncRNAs involved in adipogenic differentiation are derived from preadipocyte cell lines, researches using primary cultures of farm animals are obviously required. To comprehensively identify lncRNAs with potential functions during bovine adipogenesis, in the present study we performed Ribo-Zero-Seq to survey the transcriptome landscape of in vitro cultured bovine preadipocytes and differentiated adipocytes. A stringent set of 2882 lncRNAs were finally identified. The 2882 lncRNAs shared many of the features of their mammalian counterparts: relatively shorter in length, significantly lower expression levels and fewer in exon number than RefSeq protein coding transcripts. Comparison of the lncRNAs expression profiles identified 16 specifically regulated lncRNAs during adipogenic differentiation. Integrative computational analyses associated these lncRNAs with several signaling pathways involved in lipid metabolism, including steroid biosynthesis, PPAR signaling pathway, glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, and fatty acid metabolism. Our data provide a valuable genomic resource for the identification of lncRNAs with potential functions in adipogenic differentiation.

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