RXRα cooperates with KLF8 to promote the differentiation of intramuscular preadipocytes in goat.

Retinoid X receptor α (RXRα) is thought to be a key regulator in lipid metabolism, glucose metabolism, adipogenic differentiation, gene expression, and inflammatory response. However, it is not clear whether RXRα has any role in intramuscular preadipocyte of goat. In the current investigation, we report that adenovirus overexpression of RXRα promotes lipid accumulation in intramuscular adipocyte and up-regulates the expression of positive indicator genes (PPARγ and GLUT4). Next, knockdown of RXRα does not affect adipogenesis of intramuscular adipocyte. This phenomenon may be caused by the compensatory increase of RXRγ. In addition, we found that KLF8 mediates the positive role of RXRα. Knockdown of KLF8 by siRNA attenuated the effect of RXRα on adipocyte differentiation. Importantly, the promoter activity of KLF8 is enhanced when overexpression of RXRα. Taken together, our data suggest that RXRα promotes the differentiation of intramuscular preadipocytes in goat through targeting KLF8, but it could be replaced by RXRγ. These results provide new insights into the quality improvement of goat meat.