Effects of Free Fatty Acids with Different Chain Lengths and Degrees of Saturability on the Milk Fat Synthesis in Primary Cultured Bovine Mammary Epithelial Cells

How
short-chain fatty acids (FAs) affect cell membrane morphology and
milk fat biosynthesis in mammary epithelial cells (MECs) is yet unclear.
This study investigated the primary bovine MEC response to different
FAs. We observed that the cell surface ultrastructures were influenced
by chain length and degree of saturability of FAs. The CD36, FATP1, and FABP3 gene expression
was affected independent of the type of FA. FASN, LPIN1, PPARα, and PPARγ transcripts were more sensitive to the short-chain FAs (acetic and
β-hydroxybutyric acids). Furthermore, short-chain FAs inclined
to regulate FA degradation-, elongation-, and metabolism-associated
pathways, while long-chain FAs (stearic and trans-10,cis-12 conjugated linolenic acids) modulated
extracellular matrix–receptor interaction-, transcriptional
misregulation-, microRNA-, and ribosome biogenesis-related pathways.
However, triacylglycerol accumulation in the cytoplasm was not changed
by all of the FAs. Overall, FAs with different chain lengths and degrees
of saturability could differentially alter primary bovine MEC cell
morphology and influence protein profiles involved in milk fat synthesis
pathways.