N (6) -methyladenosine demethylase ALKBH5: a novel regulator of proliferation and differentiation of chicken preadipocytes : ALKBH5 regulated preadipocyte proliferation and differentiation

Previous studies have reported that the N (6) -methyladenosine demethylase ALKBH5 can regulate adipogenesis in humans. However, its function in birds remains unclear. In this study we aimed to explore the expression and function of the ALKBH5gene in chicken adipose tissue. The results showed that ALKBH5 is widely expressed in various chicken tissues, and the expression of ALKBH5 is relatively higher in abdominal adipose tissue. In addition, the expression of ALKBH5 in abdominal adipose tissue of lean broilers is higher than that in fat broilers at 2 and 3 weeks of age. Moreover, the proliferation and differentiation of preadipocytes are associated with reduced and increased expression of ALKBH5, respectively. We also found that ALKBH5knockout promotes preadipocyte proliferation, as evidenced by an increase in cell viability, DNA replication activity, G (1)-S cell cycle progression, and the expressions of Ki67 and PCNA. Furthermore, after knockout of ALKBH5, the lipid droplet accumulation and the expression of PPARγ, A-FABP, and FAS are reduced significantly. Thus, our results indicated that ALKBH5 is a novel regulator of proliferation and differentiation of chicken preadipocytes.