CircBTBD7 inhibits adipogenesis via the miR-183/SMAD4 axis

Adipogenesis is a complex biological process. However, the regulatory mechanism of circRNAs in adipogenesis is still unclear. In this study, we identified a novel circRNA, circBTBD7 , which was highly expressed in adipose tissue and peaked at two days after differentiation in bovine primary adipocytes. When circBTBD7 was knocked down in bovine primary adipocytes, the lipid droplets accumulation was significantly increased. Furthermore, the expression of adipocyte differentiation markers (PPAR gamma and C/EBP alpha) and lipogenic genes (FABP4 , FASN and ACC alpha) were significantly upregulated. Moreover, circBTBD7 was mainly located in the cytoplasm, which indi-cated it was probably to act as competitive endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs). Subsequently, the dual luciferase reporter assay showed that circBTBD7 could bind to miR-183. Further, miR-183 promoted adipogenesis by inhibiting SMAD4. What's more, the rescue assays showed that circBTBD7 attenuated the inhibition of SMAD4 expression by sponging miR-183. In summary, these results suggested that circBTBD7 inhibited adipogenesis via the miR-183/SMAD4 axis.

Automated summary

In this study, a novel circRNA, circBTBD7, was identified to inhibit adipogenesis in bovine adipocytes by binding to miR-183 and regulating SMAD4 expression.