Adipocyte fatty acid-binding protein: An important gene related to lipid metabolism in chicken adipocytes

Fatty acid-binding proteins (FABPs) may facilitate the diffusion of fatty acids within the cytoplasm. Adipocyte FABP (A-FABP) null mice exhibit altered rates of lipolysis, and reprogrammed expression of genes related to lipid metabolism. In the current study, chicken adipocytes with short hairpin RNA-mediated knockdown and cDNA overexpression of A-FABP were used to investigate the role of chicken A-FABP in lipid metabolism of adipocytes. The results showed that there was no significant change of lipid metabolism in the A-FABP interference adipocytes. However, in the A-FABP overexpression adipocytes, the lipolysis was increased significantly at 36 h (p < 0.05), and lipid accumulation was increased significantly at 48, 60 and 72 h (p < 0.05). The expression of PPAR γ and perilipin genes were upregulated, while the expression of E-FABP gene was downregulated after transfection with pcDNA3.1/A-FABP (p < 0.05). The present study suggested that A-FABP gene might affect the lipid metabolism through the PPAR γ pathway, and the function between A-FABP and E-FABP gene was compensatory in the chickens.