Expression Profiles and Biological Roles of miR-196a in Swine

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small non-coding RNA molecules, which play important roles in animals by targeting mRNA transcripts for translational repression. Recent studies have demonstrated that miRNAs are involved in regulation of adipocyte development. The expression of miR-196a in different porcine tissues and developing fat tissues was detected, and gene ontology (GO) term enrichment was then used to predict the expression profiles and potential biological roles of miR-196a in swine. To further verify the roles of miR-196a in porcine adipocyte development, a recombinant adenovirus encoding miR-196a gene (Ad-miR-196a) was constructed and used to study the effect of miR-196 a on preadipocyte proliferation and differentiation. Here, our data demonstrate that miR-196a displays a tissue-specific expression pattern and has comprehensive biological roles in swine, especially in adipose development. In addition, overexpression of miR-196a had no effect on preadipocyte proliferation, but induced preadipocyte differentiation by increasing expression of adipocyte specific markers, lipid accumulation and triglyceridecontent. These data represent the first demonstration of miR-196 a expression profiles and roles in swine, there by providing valuable insight into the function so fmiR-196 ainadipocytebiology. © 2016 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.