Regulatory Roles of SREBF1 and SREBF2 in Lipid Metabolism and Deposition in Two Chinese Representative Fat-Tailed Sheep Breeds

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Sterol regulatory element binding proteins (SREBPs) play the crucial role in regulating the cholesterol and fatty acid metabolism. However, it is unclear whether SREBPs are involved in the regulation of lipid metabolism in fat-tailed sheep. This study reveals the expression profiles of SREBF1 and SREBF2 in liver and adipose tissues of two Chinese representative fat-tailed sheep breeds, and provides a new insight for the regulatory role of SREBP1 and SREBP2 in fat metabolism and deposition in fat-tailed sheep. ABSTRACT: Sterol regulatory element binding proteins (SREBPs) can regulate the lipid homeostasis by regulating its target genes, which are crucial for the cholesterol and fatty acid metabolism. However, the transcriptional regulation role of SREBPs in fat-tailed sheep is unclear. In this study, two Chinese representative breeds of total 80 fat-tailed sheep were employed, serum triglyceride, total cholesterol (TC), non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and mRNA expressions of SREBF1 and SREBF2 in seven different adipose tissues and liver were examined in sheep at the ages of 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 months, respectively. The subcellular localization and function of SREBP1/2 were predicted through bioinformatics approaches. The results demonstrated that serum TC and NEFA levels among breeds were significantly different, and most serum indices were dynamically altered in an age-dependent manner. The mRNA expression profiling of SREBF1 and SREBF2 are breed-specific with temporal and spatial expressions differences. Further analysis shows that SREBF1/2 transcriptional levels and tail traits are closely related. All investigations simplify that SREBF1/2 play a crucial role in lipid metabolism and deposition during growth and development of the fat-tailed sheep, which also provides a novel insight for revealing the genetic mechanism of different tail type and meat quality.