CTGF基因对鸡前脂肪细胞分化的影响及其作用机制

哺乳动物上的结果表明细胞因子CTGF对脂肪细胞分化具有重要作用，然而其具体调控机制还不清楚。本课题组前期GWAS研究结果发现，CTGF位于鸡腹脂性状相关的重要染色体区域内，该基因在鸡前脂肪细胞中表达，干扰该基因后可以抑制鸡前脂肪细胞分化，这些结果说明CTGF对鸡前脂肪细胞分化有重要影响。因此，本项目选择CTGF作为影响鸡前脂肪细胞分化的重要候选基因，系统研究CTGF基因对鸡前脂肪细胞分化的影响及其调控机制，研究内容包括：CTGF对鸡前脂肪细胞分化的影响；CTGF作为TGFβ1下游基因介导TGFβ信号通路影响鸡前脂肪细胞分化的机制；CTGF调节TIMP-1表达进而影响鸡前脂肪细胞分化机制的研究；CTGF下游基因的鉴定及其影响鸡前脂肪细胞分化的机制。本研究将揭示鸡CTGF基因在前脂肪细胞分化过程中的功能和作用机制，研究结果将有助于增进对鸡脂肪组织生长发育分子遗传机制的理解。

The results from mammalian indicate that cytokine CTGF plays an important role in adipocyte differentiation, but its regulatory mechanism remains unclear. Our previous GWAS found that CTGF was located in the important chromosomal regions associated to chicken abdominal fat traits. This gene was expressed in chicken preadipocytes, which can inhibit the differentiation of chicken preadipocytes after interfered. These results indicated that CTGF may be important for chicken preadipocytes differentiation. Therefore, in this study, CTGF is selected as an important candidate gene for differentiation of chicken preadipocyte. The effect of CTGF gene on the differentiation of chicken preadipocytes will be studied and also its regulatory mechanism. The content included: the effect of CTGF on the differentiation of chicken preadipocytes; CTGF plays as a downstream gene of TGFβ1 that mediates the TGFβ signaling pathway to affect the differentiation of chicken preadipocytes; CTGF regulates the expression of TIMP-1 and affects the differentiation of chicken preadipocytes; the identification of downstream genes of CTGF and its impact on the differentiation of chicken preadipocytes. This study will reveal the function and regulation mechanism of chicken CTGF gene in the differentiation of preadipocytes. The results of this study will help to improve the understanding of the genetic mechanism of chicken adipose tissue growth and development.