Effects of PLIN1 Gene Knockout on the Proliferation, Apoptosis, Differentiation and Lipolysis of Chicken Preadipocytes

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Perilipin 1 (PLIN1) is one of the most abundant lipid droplet-related proteins on the surface of adipocytes. In order to reveal the role of PLIN1 in the growth and development of poultry adipocytes, the CRISPR/Cas9 system was used to effectively mediate the knockout of the PLIN1 gene. The results showed that PLIN1 deletion increased the proliferation, decreased, apoptosis and differentiation, promoted basal lipolysis and inhibited hormone-stimulated lipolysis of chicken preadipocytes. The results of this study are conducive to revealing the molecular mechanism of chicken PLIN1 regulating lipid metabolism, and to deeply understand the genetic mechanism of chicken adipose tissue growth and development. ABSTRACT: Perilipin 1 (PLIN1) is one of the most abundant lipid droplet-related proteins on the surface of adipocytes. Our previous results showed that PLIN1 plays an important role in chicken lipid metabolism. To further reveal the role of PLIN1 in the growth and development of adipocytes, a chicken preadipocyte line with a PLIN1 gene knockout was established by the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technique, and the effects of the PLIN1 gene on the proliferation, apoptosis, differentiation and lipolysis of chicken preadipocytes were detected. The results showed that the CRISPR/Cas9 system effectively mediated knockout of the PLIN1 gene. After the deletion of PLIN1, the differentiation ability and early apoptotic activity of chicken preadipocytes decreased, and their proliferation ability increased. Moreover, knockout of PLIN1 promoted chicken preadipocyte lipolysis under basal conditions and inhibited chicken preadipocyte lipolysis under hormone stimulation. Taken together, our results inferred that PLIN1 plays a regulatory role in the process of proliferation, apoptosis, differentiation and lipolysis of chicken preadipocytes.