RESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression profiles of bone morphogenetic protein and activin membrane-bound inhibitor (BAMBI) during the development of mouse adipose tissue. METHODS: The total RNA was extracted for real-time PCR for amplification of BAMBI mRNA from the suprascapular brown adipose tissue (BAT) and subcutaneous (inguinal) and visceral (gonadal) white adipose tissue (sWAT and vWAT, respectively) of mice at various embryonic and postnatal stages, as well as from isolated primary preadipocytes during differentiation. RESULTS: In BAT, BAMBI mRNA levels exhibited a transient increase, peaking at day 0 (D0) and declined thereafter. sWAT and vWAT could be isolated from mice from postnatal D21 onwards, in which BAMBI mRNA levels were the highest and decreased at 8 weeks and 6 months. BAMBI mRNA levels were also significantly reduced in primary preadipocytes isolated from vWAT after induced differentiation. BAMBI mRNA expression level was higher in vWAT than in sWAT and BAT at the same developmental stages. CONCLUSION: BAMBI is differentially expressed in different adipose tissues and developmental stages, which supports the hypothesis that BAMBI plays a pivotal role in the development of adipose tissues.