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Adipogenesis and Noncoding RNAs

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Abstract

Adipogenesis is the cellular process through which pluripotent mesenchymal stem cells and preadipocytes differentiate into mature adipocytes, which are the predominant cell in white or brown/beige adipose tissue. The complicated process of adipogenesis is stringently controlled by multiple layers of regulators that include a myriad of transcription factors, hormones, and signaling pathway molecules. In addition to these well-known protein regulators, a growing evidence has shown that adipogenesis is also controlled by nonprotein regulators called noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) that account for the majority of the mammalian transcriptome. Two major classes of ncRNA, microRNAs and long noncoding RNAs, have been identified to play crucial roles in the regulation of a variety of biological processes, including adipogenesis. In this chapter, we review recent advances in regulatory roles of ncRNAs in adipogenesis and discuss how these ncRNA regulatory networks contribute to the development and functions of white and brown/beige adipose tissues.

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Abbreviations

ADSCs:

Adipose tissue-derived stem cells

BAT:

Brown adipose tissue

C/EBPα/β:

CCAAT-enhancer-binding protein α/β

DGCR8:

DiGeorge syndrome critical region 8

ECM:

Extracellular matrix

lncRNAs:

Long noncoding RNAs

miRNAs:

MicroRNAs

MSCs:

Mesenchymal stem cells

PPARγ:

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ

WAT:

White adipose tissue

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Grants from the American Cancer Society (ACS) and NIH/NCI R01 (CA163820A1 and CA157779A1).

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Correspondence to Qun Zhou .

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Lo, PK., Wolfson, B., Zhou, Q. (2019). Adipogenesis and Noncoding RNAs. In: Patel, V., Preedy, V. (eds) Handbook of Nutrition, Diet, and Epigenetics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55530-0_41

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55530-0_41

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