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Updated: Mar 26, 2026

Differentiation and Imaging of Brown Adipocytes from the Stromal Vascular Fraction of Interscapular Adipose Tissue from Newborn Mice
Published on: February 3, 2023
RBM4a-regulated splicing cascade modulates the differentiation and metabolic activities of brown adipocytes
Jung-Chun Lin1, Yi-Han Lu1, Yun-Ru Liu2
1School of Medical Laboratory Science and Biotechnology, College of Medical Science and Technology, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Abstract:
RNA-binding motif protein 4a (RBM4a) reportedly reprograms splicing profiles of the insulin receptor (IR) and myocyte enhancer factor 2C (MEF2C) genes, facilitating the differentiation of brown adipocytes. Using an RNA-sequencing analysis, we first compared the gene expressing profiles between wild-type and RBM4a(-/-) brown adipocytes. The ablation of RBM4a led to increases in the PTBP1, PTBP2 (nPTB), and Nova1 proteins, whereas elevated RBM4a reduced the expression of PTBP1 and PTBP2 proteins in brown adipocytes through an alternative splicing-coupled nonsense-mediated decay mechanism. Subsequently, RBM4a indirectly shortened the half-life of the Nova1 transcript which was comparatively stable in the presence of PTBP2. RBM4a diminished the influence of PTBP2 in adipogenic development by reprogramming the splicing profiles of the FGFR2 and PKM genes. These results constitute a mechanistic understanding of the RBM4a-modulated splicing cascade during the brown adipogenesis.
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