Molecular characterization, expression analysis of Chemerin gene and its potential role in intramuscular adipocyte differentiation of goat

Chemerin is a cytokine secreted by adipose cells and plays an important regulatory role in adipocyte differentiation and lipid metabolism. However, the function of Chemerin on intramuscular fat (IMF) deposition is still unknown in goat. Here, we cloned the cDNA of goat Chemerin gene using quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) technique and further clarified the expression pattern of Chemerin in various tissues of goat. The siRNA against Chemerin were synthesized to explore the potential role in intramuscular preadipocyte differentiation of goat. Our results showed that the full-length open reading frame (ORF) of Chemerin was 489 bp encoding 162 amino acids, mainly expressed in liver and Kidney. The interference of Chemerin significantly inhibited the differentiation of goat intramuscular preadipocyte and down-regulated significantly the expression levels of adipogenic marker genes LPL, AP2, SREBP1, PPARγ, C/EBPα, and C/EBPβ. These data suggest that Chemerin is a positive regulator of lipogenesis in goat intramuscular preadipocytes. Interestingly, the temporal expression pattern of Chemerin was similar to CMKLR1 during preadipocytre differentiation. These results will facilitate the research on the action of Chemerin gene in goat intramuscular fat deposition.