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PLIN1a: the principal protein isoform that performs the function of chicken PLIN1
Xue Han1,2,3, Xun Zhou1,2,3, Jie Liu1,2,3
1Key Laboratory of Chicken Genetics and Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China.
None:
PLIN1 is the predominant structural and regulatory protein associated with lipid droplets (LDs) in avian species and plays an essential role in lipid metabolism. The NCBI RefSeq database currently annotates 10 transcripts at the chicken PLIN1 locus; however, only one transcript has been verified experimentally, while the remaining nine are computational predictions. In this study, we identified five distinct transcript variants encoding four N-terminally divergent protein isoforms of chicken PLIN1 using RNA ligase-mediated rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RLM-RACE). Immunolocalization assays showed that all PLIN1 isoforms were targeted to the surface of LDs during preadipocyte differentiation. Functional analyses revealed that PLIN1 isoforms play evolutionarily conserved roles in inhibiting cell proliferation, promoting adipogenic differentiation, and facilitating Fsp27-mediated formation of supersized lipid droplets. Among all isoforms, PLIN1a exhibited the strongest regulatory effects in all functional assays. These findings clarify the transcript diversity and functional differentiation of avian PLIN1, provide new insights into the structural basis of LD regulation, and contribute to a better understanding of lipid storage and metabolic adaptation in vertebrates.
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