Page 33 - 《水产学报》2025年第12期

李伟嘉，等 水产学报, 2025, 49(12): 129602

Cloning of zebrafish (Danio rerio) seipin gene and its role in
D. rerio liver lipid metabolism

LI Weijia , SHEN Yanan , DU Jianlong , MAI Kangsen , AI Qinghui *
Key Laboratory of Aquaculture Nutrition and Feed, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Key Laboratory of Mariculture,
Ministry of Education, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, China

Abstract: Seipin is a key protein regulating lipid storage. Mutation in the bscl2 gene encoding seipin causes severe congenital
generalized lipoatrophy in humans. Patients lose whole-body adipose tissue, accompanied by abnormal liver fat deposition. The
function of seipin in adipose tissue formation and adipocyte differentiation has been widely studied. However, how seipin regu-
lates lipid storage and metabolism in the liver is still unclear. Therefore, in order to explore the role of fish lipid droplet-related
protein seipin in liver lipid metabolism, the coding sequence of seipin was cloned for sequence analysis, and the expression of
triglyceride (TG) metabolism-related genes in Danio rerio liver and liver cells was detected through real-time fluorescence
quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) after interfering and overexpressing seipin in vivo and in vitro experiments. The results showed
that the seipin coding sequence of D. rerio is 1 053 bp in length, encoding 350 amino acids. Bioinformatics analysis showed
that D. rerio seipin protein belongs to alkaline, unstable and hydrophobic transmembrane protein. RT-qPCR results showed that
compared with the control group, the expression of TG synthesis-related gene dgat1b in D. rerio liver and liver cells was signi-
ficantly increased (P<0.05), the expression of TG transport-related gene mttp was significantly increased (P<0.05), the expres-
sion of TG lipolysis related gene lpl was increased (P>0.05), and the expression of atgl was decreased (P>0.05). After 36 h of
seipin interference, the expression of TG synthesis-related gene dgat1a in D. rerio liver and liver cells increased (P>0.05), the
expression of mttp decreased significantly (P<0.05), and the expression of lpl decreased significantly (P<0.05). After overex-
pression of seipin for 24 h, the expression of TG synthesis-related gene dgat2 in D. rerio liver cells decreased significantly
(P<0.05), the expression of mttp decreased significantly (P<0.05), and there was no significant difference in the expression of
lpl (P>0.05). After overexpression of seipin for 36 h, the expression of TG synthesis-related gene dgat2 in D. rerio liver cells
increased significantly (P<0.05), the expression of mttp increased significantly (P<0.05), and there was no significant differ-
ence in the expression of lpl (P>0.05). The above results indicate that seipin may participate in D. rerio liver lipid metabolism
by affecting the expression of TG metabolism-related genes. This study provides a basis for further study on the mechanism of
seipin regulating lipid storage and metabolism in D. rerio.
Key words: Danio rerio; seipin; liver; lipid metabolism
Corresponding author: AI Qinghui. E-mail: qhai@ouc.edu.cn
Funding projects: National Natural Science Foundation of China (31830103)

https://www.china-fishery.cn 中国水产学会主办 sponsored by China Society of Fisheries
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