miR-26a-5p Regulates Adipocyte Differentiation via Directly Targeting ACSL3 in Adipocytes.

Preadipocytes become mature adipocytes after proliferation and differentiation, and although many genes and microRNAs have been identified in intramuscular fat, their physiological function and regulatory mechanisms remain largely unexplored. miR-26a-5p has been reported to be related to fat deposition, but its effect on porcine preadipocyte differentiation has not been explored. In this study, bioinformatics analysis and luciferase reporter assay identified that miR-26a-5p binds to the 3'UTR of Acyl-CoA synthetase long-chain family member 3 () mRNA. The model for porcine intramuscular preadipocyte differentiation was established to explore the function of miR-6a-5p- on adipocyte differentiation. knockdown markedly reduced the triglycerides (TG) content of cells, as well as the mRNA levels of adipogenic marker genes ( and ). The number of lipid droplets in cells transfected with a miR-26a-5p mimic is significantly reduced, consistent with knockdown results, while the miR-26a-5p inhibitor resulted in opposite results. Taken together, miR-26a-5p is a repressor of porcine preadipocyte differentiation and plays a vital role in -mediated adipogenesis.