Isolation of up- or down-regulated genes in PPARgamma-expressing NIH-3T3 cells during differentiation into adipocytes.

Adipocyte differentiation is a complex process in which the expression of many transcription factors and adipocyte-specific genes is regulated under a strict program. The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma), a member of the steroid/thyroid nuclear hormone receptor superfamily of ligand-activated transcription factors, is an important regulator of adipocyte gene expression and differentiation. In this study, we tried to identify downstream target genes of PPARgamma, by using PPARgamma-expressing cells and a subtractive cloning strategy, and isolated cDNA clones which were up-regulated or down-regulated by PPARgamma. Northern blot analyses revealed that the expression levels of the aldehyde dehydrogenase-2-like, type VI collagen alpha 3 subunit, cellular retinoic acid binding protein 1 and thrombospondin 1 are changed during the differentiation of mouse 3T3-L1 preadipocyte cells, indicating that these genes might be downstream targets of PPARgamma in adipocyte differentiation.