Molecular cloning of SLC35D3 and analysis of its role during porcine intramuscular preadipocyte differentiation

BACKGROUND: Solute carrier family 35 (SLC35) is one of a large number of membrane transporter protein families. Member D3 of this family is thought to be involved in adipose deposition and metabolic control. RESULTS: We obtained 2238 bp cDNA of porcine SLC35D3, it contains a 1272 bp ORF, encoding a 423 amino acid polypeptide, and a 966 bp 3′ UTR. BLAST results revealed that the amino acid sequence of porcine SLC35D3 had the closest phylogenetic relationship with members of the genus Ovis aries. Further bioinformatics analysis showed that the SLC35D3 protein contains 8 transmembrane domains, and that there is no signal peptide structure. The secondary structure of the protein mainly contains 37.12% α-helixes, 7.8% in β-folds, and 33.57% random coils. mRNA expression analysis showed that SLC35D3 is expressed in lung, liver, heart, spleen, kidney, longissimus dorsi muscle (LDM), leaf fat (LF), and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT). To examine the effects of SLC35D3 expression on fat synthesis and catabolism, SLC35D3-siRNA was transfected into cultured intramuscular adipocytes. SLC35D3 silenced cells showed increased expression of genes related to fat synthesis, and increased deposition of intramuscular fat (IMF), abundance of lipid droplets, and the level of free fatty acid (FFA) in the culture medium. In contrast, the siRNA decreased the expression genes involved in fat catabolism. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that silenced SLC35D3 results in increased adipogenic processes in pig intramuscular adipocytes. These data represent the first exploration of SLC35D3 expression in swine, and provide valuable insights into the functions of SLC35D3 in adipocyte differentiation.