FOS Inhibits the Differentiation of Intramuscular Adipocytes in Goats

Goat intramuscular fat (IMF) deposition is precisely regulated by many key genes as well as transcription factors. Nevertheless, the potential of the regulators of goat IMF deposition remains undefined. In this work, we reported that the transcription factor FOS is expressed at a low level at the early differentiation stage and at a high level in late differentiation. The overexpression of FOS inhibited intramuscular adipocyte lipid accumulation and significantly downregulated the expressions of PPAR gamma, C/EBP beta, C/EBP alpha, AP2, SREBP1, FASN, ACC, HSL, and ATGL. Consistently, the knockdown of FOS, facilitated by two distinct siRNAs, significantly promoted intramuscular adipocyte lipid accumulation. Moreover, our analysis revealed multiple potential binding sites for FOS on the promoters of PPAR gamma, C/EBP beta, and C/EBP alpha. The expression changes in PPAR gamma, C/EBP beta, and C/EBP alpha during intramuscular adipogenesis were opposite to that of FOS. In summary, FOS inhibits intramuscular lipogenesis in goats and potentially negatively regulates the expressions of PPAR gamma, C/EBP beta, and C/EBP alpha genes. Our research will provide valuable data for the underlying molecular mechanism of the FOS regulation network of intramuscular lipogenesis.