The Impact of FBN1-α5β1 Axis in Fibro/Adipogenic Progenitor Cells (FAP) on Intramuscular Fat Content in Pigs.

Intramuscular fat (IMF) plays a crucial role in enhancing meat quality, enriching meat flavor, and overall improving palatability. In this study, Single-cell RNA sequencing was employed to analyze the longissimus dorsi (LD) obtained from Guangdong small-ear spotted pigs (GDSS, with high IMF) and Yorkshire pigs (YK, with low IMF). GDSS had significantly more Fibro/Adipogenic Progenitor (FAPs), in which the CD9 negative FAPs (FAP) having adipogenic potential, as demonstrated by assays using cells originated from mouse muscle. On the other hand, Yorkshire had more fibro-inflammatory progenitors (FIPs, marked with FAP), presenting higher expression of the FBN1-Integrin α5β1. FBN1-Integrin α5β1 could inhibit insulin signaling in FAP, suppressing adipogenic differentiation. Our results demonstrated that fat-type pigs possess a greater number of FAP, which are the exclusive cells in muscle capable of differentiating into adipocytes. Moreover, lean-type pigs exhibit higher expression of FBN1-Integrin α5β1 axis, which inhibits adipocyte differentiation. These results appropriately explain the observed higher IMF content in fat-type pigs.