Study on the Role of FHL2 in Chicken: Promoting Bone Growth and Inhibiting Fat Formation via Regulating BMSC Differentiation Balance.
- 1Science and Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China.
- 2Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding and Key Lab of Chicken Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture, Guangzhou 510642, China.
- 3State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China.
Abstract
In this study, the objective was to identify the key regulators of the osteogenic-adipogenic differentiation equilibrium of chicken bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs), with the expectation of developing marker genes that promote skeletal development and inhibit excessive fat deposition. BMSCs were isolated and phenotypically characterized. qRT-PCR showed FHL2 increased during osteogenic differentiation. Transfection with FHL2 overexpression plasmid or siRNAs was done. FHL2 overexpression increased osteogenic marker mRNA (RUNX2, ALP, Osterix, and OCN) levels, reduced lipid deposition-related gene (C/EBPα, C/EBPβ) expression, and increased mineralized area and nodules. FHL2 knockdown had the opposite effect. FHL2 overexpression also reduced apoptosis and proliferation-related transcripts, decreased apoptosis rate, and reduced proliferation-related transcripts and altered cell-cycle distribution. After FHL2 knockdown, RNA sequencing identified 81 differentially expressed genes. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment showed changes in various processes and pathways. Enrichment analysis indicated that the differentially expressed genes were involved in apoptosis, cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, Th17 cell differentiation, JAK-STAT signaling, cAMP signaling, steroid hormone biosynthesis, and retinol metabolism. These findings indicate that FHL2 promotes osteogenic differentiation and suppresses adipogenic differentiation in chicken BMSCs in vitro and may act through multiple downstream pathways.
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BibTeX
@article{qin2026study,
title = {{Study on the Role of FHL2 in Chicken: Promoting Bone Growth and Inhibiting Fat Formation via Regulating BMSC Differentiation Balance.}},
author = {Zijian Qin and Lisha Han and Fen Ying and Ming Pan and Changbin Zhao and Tao Lin and Shuibing Liu and Linxi Wu and Bolin Cai and Qingbin Luo and Xiquan Zhang and Dexiang Zhang and Farhad Bordbar and Hongmei Li},
journal = {Animals : an open access journal from MDPI},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/ani16203197},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42939128},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Study on the Role of FHL2 in Chicken: Promoting Bone Growth and Inhibiting Fat Formation via Regulating BMSC Differentiation Balance.
AU - Zijian Qin
AU - Lisha Han
AU - Fen Ying
AU - Ming Pan
AU - Changbin Zhao
AU - Tao Lin
AU - Shuibing Liu
AU - Linxi Wu
AU - Bolin Cai
AU - Qingbin Luo
AU - Xiquan Zhang
AU - Dexiang Zhang
AU - Farhad Bordbar
AU - Hongmei Li
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/12
JO - Animals : an open access journal from MDPI
DO - 10.3390/ani16203197
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42939128
AB - In this study, the objective was to identify the key regulators of the osteogenic-adipogenic differentiation equilibrium of chicken bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs), with the expectation of developing marker genes that promote skeletal development and inhibit excessive fat deposition. BMSCs were isolated and phenotypically characterized. qRT-PCR showed FHL2 increased during osteogenic differentiation. Transfection with FHL2 overexpression plasmid or siRNAs was done. FHL2 overexpression increased osteogenic marker mRNA (RUNX2, ALP, Osterix, and OCN) levels, reduced lipid deposition-related gene (C/EBPα, C/EBPβ) expression, and increased mineralized area and nodules. FHL2 knockdown had the opposite effect. FHL2 overexpression also reduced apoptosis and proliferation-related transcripts, decreased apoptosis rate, and reduced proliferation-related transcripts and altered cell-cycle distribution. After FHL2 knockdown, RNA sequencing identified 81 differentially expressed genes. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment showed changes in various processes and pathways. Enrichment analysis indicated that the differentially expressed genes were involved in apoptosis, cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, Th17 cell differentiation, JAK-STAT signaling, cAMP signaling, steroid hormone biosynthesis, and retinol metabolism. These findings indicate that FHL2 promotes osteogenic differentiation and suppresses adipogenic differentiation in chicken BMSCs in vitro and may act through multiple downstream pathways.
SN - 2076-2615
ER -