CircRNA Expression Profile during Yak Adipocyte Differentiation and Screen Potential circRNAs for Adipocyte Differentiation

Abstract

The yak (Bos grunniens) is subjected to nutritional deficiency during the whole winter grazing season; deciphering the adipose metabolism and energy homeostasis under cold and nutrients stress conditions could be a novel way to understand the specific mechanism of energy metabolism. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have elucidated that they play a key role in many biological events, but the regulatory function of adipose development remains mostly unknown. Therefore, the expression pattern of circRNAs were identified for the first time during yak adipocyte differentiation to gain insight into their potential functional involvement in bovine adipogenesis. We detected 7203 circRNA candidates, most of them contained at least two exons, and multiple circRNA isoforms could be generated from one parental gene. Analysis of differential expression circRNAs displayed that 136 circRNAs were differentially expressed at day 12 (Ad) after adipocyte differentiation, compared with the control at day 0 (Pread 0), while 7 circRNAs were detected on day 2. Sanger sequencing validated that six circRNAs had head-to-tail junction, and quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) results revealed that the expression patterns of ten circRNAs were consistent with their expression levels from RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) data. We further predicted the networks of circRNA-miRNA-gene based on miRNAs sponging by circRNAs, in which genes were participated in the adipocyte differentiation-related signaling pathways. After that, we constructed several adipocyte differentiation-related ceRNAs and revealed six circRNAs (novel_circ_0009127, novel_circ_0000628, novel_circ_0011513, novel_circ_0010775, novel_circ_0006981 and novel_circ_0001494) were related to adipogenesis. Furthermore, we analyzed the homology among yak, human and mouse circRNAs and found that 3536 yak circRNAs were homologous to human and mouse circRNAs. In conclusion, these findings provide a solid basis for the investigation of yak adipocyte differentiation-related circRNAs and serve as a great reference to study the energy metabolism of high-altitude animals.

Characteristics and expression profiles of circRNAs during abdominal adipose tissue development in Chinese Gushi chickens

“…Thus, a single circRNA can bind to a considerable number of miRNAs, and a miRNA can also target many circRNAs simultaneously. These results are consistent with previous studies in human visceral preadipocytes and adipocytes [ 7 ] and yak adipocytes [ 11 ]. This finding suggests that circRNAs, as miRNA sponges, have a complex regulatory relationship in abdominal fat tissue development or adipogenesis in chickens.…”

“…In the Chinese Erhualian pig, Liu (2019) identified many DE circRNAs in adipose tissue of intramuscular, subcutaneous, peritoneal and mesenteric adipose tissues [ 8 ] and between subcutaneous preadipocytes and adipocytes [ 9 ]. In yaks ( Bos grunniens ), a previous study found 211 DE circRNAs from adipose tissue in yaks of two age groups [ 10 ], and another study identified 7,203 circRNAs and 136 DE circRNAs during yak adipocyte differentiation [ 11 ]. In addition, Huang (2019) identified 5,141 circRNAs and 252 DE circRNAs from the adipose tissue of adult and young Chinese buffaloes [ 12 ].…”

The Emerging Role and Promise of Circular RNAs in Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders

“…A recently published report indicated that the expression of two circRNAs, 19:45387150|45389986 and 21:6969877|69753491, was strongly correlated with fat deposition associated genes in Chinese Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) [75]. In the same context, Zhang et al identified six circRNAs, novel_circ_0009127, novel_circ_0000628, novel_circ_0011513, novel_circ_0010775, novel_circ_0006981, and novel_circ_0001494 that were related to Yac (Bos grunniens) adipogenesis [76]. In cattle adipocytes, circFUT10 was found to promote adipocyte proliferation and inhibit adipocyte differentiation via sponging let-7 binding of let-7c [77].…”

Dynamic Expression Profiles of Circular RNAs during Brown to White Adipose Tissue Transformation in Goats (Capra hircus)

“…The analyses of circRNA conservation were conducted according to a previous study [42]. Mouse and human circRNA data were obtained from circBase (http://www.…”