A transcriptomic analysis reveals novel patterns of gene expression during 3T3-L1 adipocyte differentiation

Background: Obesity is characterized by increased adipose tissue mass that results from increased fat cell size (hypertrophy) and number (hyperplasia). The molecular mechanisms that govern the regulation and differentiation of adipocytes play a critical role for better understanding of the pathological mechanism of obesity. However, the mechanism of adipocyte differentiation is still unclear. Objective: The present study aims to compare the gene expression changes during adipocyte differentiation in the transcriptomic level, which may help to better understand the mechanism of adipocyte differentiation. Methods: RNA sequencing technology, GO and KEGG analysis and quantitative RT-PCR menthod were used in this study. Results: A lot of genes were up- or down- regulated between each two stages of 3T3-L1 adipocyte. GO and KEGG analysis revealed that lipid metabolism and oxidation-reduction reaction were mainly involved in the whole process of adipocyte differentiation. Moreover, decreased immune response and cell cycle, adhesion were occurred in the late phase of adipocyte differentiation, which were demonstrated by divergent expression pattern analysis. In addition, quantitative RT-PCR results demonstrated that the mRNA expression level of Trpv4 , Trpm4 , Trpm5 and Trpm7 were significantly decreased in the differentiated adipocytes. On the other hand, the mRNA expression level of Trpv1 , Trpv2 , Trpv6 and Trpc1 were significantly increased. Conclusions: These data presents the description of transcription profile changes in adipocyte differentiation and provides an in-depth analysis of the possible mechanisms of adipocyte differentiation. These data offer new insight into the understanding of the mechanisms of adipocyte differentiation.