The effect of short/branched chain acyl-coenzyme A dehydrogenase gene on triglyceride synthesis of bovine mammary epithelial cells

Abstract

Short/branched chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (ACADSB) is a member of the acyl-CoA dehydrogenase family of enzymes that catalyze the dehydrogenation of acyl-CoA derivatives in the metabolism of fatty acids. Our previous transcriptome analysis in dairy cattle showed that ACADSB was differentially expressed and was associated with milk fat metabolism. The aim of this study was to elucidate the background of this differential expression and to evaluate the role of ACADSB as a candidate for fat metabolism in dairy cattle. After analysis of ACADSB mRNA abundance by qRT-PCR and Western blot, overexpression and RNA interference (RNAi) vectors of ACADSB gene were constructed and then transfected into bovine mammary epithelial cells (bMECs) to examine the effects of ACADSB on milk fat synthesis. The results showed that the ACADSB was differentially expressed in mammary tissue of low and high milk fat dairy cattle. Overexpression of ACADSB gene could significantly increase the level of intracellular triglyceride (TG), while ACADSB gene knockdown could significantly reduce the TG synthesis in bMECs. This study suggested that the ACADSB was important in TG synthesis in bMECs, and it could be a candidate gene to regulate the metabolism of milk fat in dairy cattle.