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Transforming growth factor beta 1 induces differentiation-specific gene expression in fetal rat brown adipocytes
T Teruel1, A M Valverde, M Benito
1Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain.
Abstract:
Fetal rat brown adipocytes show a low number of transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-beta 1) binding sites of high affinity, revealing the presence of type I, II and III TGF-beta 1 receptors and a minor-labeled species of approximately 140 kDa. The culture of cells in the presence of TGF-beta 1 induced the expression of the tissue-specific gene uncoupling protein in a dose- and time-dependent manner. In addition, TGF-beta 1 up-regulates the expression of genes involved in adipogenesis such as fatty acid synthase, glycerol 3-phosphate dehydrogenase, malic enzyme and glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase, as well as induces the expression of fibronectin (specific target gene for TGF-beta 1). Our results suggest that TGF-beta 1 is a major signal involved in initiating and/or maintaining the thermogenic and adipogenic differentiation of rat fetal brown adipocytes.