Analysis of Differentially Expressed Genes in Gastrocnemius Muscle between DGAT1 Transgenic Mice and Wild-Type Mice

Adipose tissue was the major energy deposition site of the mammals and provided the energy for the body and released the external pressure to the internal organs. In animal production, fat deposition in muscle can affect the meat quality, especially the intramuscular fat (IMF) content. Diacylglycerol acyltransferase-1 (DGAT1) was the key enzyme to control the synthesis of the triacylglycerol in adipose tissue. In order to better understand the regulation mechanism of the DGAT1 in the intramuscular fat deposition, the global gene expression profiling was performed in gastrocnemius muscle between DGAT1 transgenic mice and wild-type mice by microarray. 281 differentially expressed transcripts were identified with at least 1.5-fold change and the p value < 0.05. 169 transcripts were upregulated and 112 transcripts were downregulated. Ten genes (SREBF1, DUSP1, PLAGL1, FKBP5, ZBTB16, PPP1R3C, CDC14A, GLUL, PDK4, and UCP3) were selected to validate the reliability of the chip's results by the real-time PCR. The finding of RT-PCR was consistent with the gene chip. Seventeen signal pathways were analyzed using KEGG pathway database and the pathways concentrated mainly on the G-protein coupled receptor protein signaling pathway, signal transduction, oxidation-reduction reaction, olfactory receptor activity, protein binding, and zinc ion binding. This study implied a function role of DGAT1 in the synthesis of TAG, insulin resistance, and IMF deposition.