Bta-miR-380-3p regulates cell proliferation and adipogenesis in bovine intramuscular fat preadipocytes via targeting sterol O-acyltransferase 1.

Authors

Diba Dedacha Jilo, Belete Kuraz Abebe, Juntao Guo, Jianfang Wang, Haobin Ma, Gong Cheng, Anning Li, Linsen Zan

Published in

International journal of biological macromolecules. Pages 154055. Aug 14, 2026. Epub Aug 14, 2026.

Abstract

Intramuscular fat (IMF) deposition significantly impacts beef quality, yet microRNA (miRNA)-mediated mechanisms regulating bovine intramuscular preadipocyte development are not fully understood. This study aimed to elucidate the role of bta-miR-380-3p in preadipocyte proliferation, apoptosis, and adipogenic differentiation, identifying sterol O-acyltransferase 1 (SOAT1) as its functional target. Bta-miR-380-3p exhibited dynamic expression during adipogenesis and was highly expressed in adult bovine IMF. Gain- and loss-of-function assays showed that bta-miR-380-3p promoted DNA synthesis, cell viability, and cell-cycle progression, and reduced apoptosis-related signaling. Consistently, western blot analysis confirmed increased PCNA and CDK1 and reduced P21 after bta-miR-380-3p overexpression, whereas inhibition produced the opposite pattern. Bta-miR-380-3p also enhanced lipid droplet accumulation and upregulated adipogenic markers, with western blotting confirming increased PPARγ, FABP4, and SREBP1 protein abundance. Bioinformatics prediction, expression validation, and dual-luciferase reporter assays demonstrated that bta-miR-380-3p directly targets the SOAT1 3'UTR and negatively regulates SOAT1 expression. Functional manipulation of SOAT1 further revealed its involvement in triglyceride accumulation, adipogenic marker regulation, and proliferation-associated remodeling. Collectively, these findings reveal a bta-miR-380-3p-SOAT1 regulatory axis linking post-transcriptional control with cholesterol metabolism, preadipocyte expansion, and IMF deposition. These results provide mechanistic insight and a potential molecular target for improving marbling and meat quality traits in cattle breeding programs.

PMID:
42600820
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 15 Aug 2026.

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