Differential Analysis of Gene Expression During in Vitro Adipogenesis in Cattle Using an Adipose Tissue Specific Cdna Microarray

Abstract

Mammalian adipogenesis at the molecular level has been studied extensively during the last three decades using human and mouse models. Studies on ruminant adipogenesis are limited to very few reports on some key transcription factors and regulators. The present study was conducted to understand gene expression changes occurring during bovine pre-adipocyte differentiation. Gene expression changes during adipogenesis were studied using adipose tissue specific cDNA microarray and primary cell culture system derived from bovine subcutaneous adipose tissue. Results of the microarray analysis showed that 111 genes were significantly differentially expressed during the differentiation process. Differences in the expression pattern of several important genes observed in this study compared to the patterns reported in other cell culture systems indicate the existence of distinct regulatory mechanisms and pathways