Long non-coding RNAs regulate adipogenesis (Affymetrix)

Adipogenesis involves the regulation of hundreds of genes by several well-studied proteins, but the role of long, noncoding RNAs in this process has not been defined. We track the regulation of hundreds of lncRNAs during adipocyte differentiation, and find several that are essential for this process. We profiled knockdown of lncRNAs that are upregulated during mouse adipocyte development We compared adipocytes differentiated in vitro after knockdown of 10 lncRNAs against control adipocytes and pre-adipocytes using Affymetrix expression microarrays. When cultured primary-preadipytes reached 70-80% confluence, we transfected siRNAs against each lincRNA. 24 hours after transfection, cells were recovered in full culture media and grown to confluence for differentiation. Total RNA was collected from control pre-adipocytes (D0) prior to differentation. Four days after recovery, total RNA was collected from each knockdown, a scramble control, and an untransfected control (D4).