Bta-miR-30f promotes adipogenesis and unsaturated fatty acid accumulation by targeting RAD23B in buffalo intramuscular preadipocytes

The intramuscular fat content and the unsaturated fatty acid (UFA) composition are both critical indicators of buffalo meat quality. While microRNAs regulate fatty acid metabolism, their specific roles in buffaloes remain unclear. Our previous WGCNA identified bta-miR-30f as a hub miRNA positively correlated with UFA levels. In the present study, bta-miR-30f was found to be highly expressed in sternum subcutaneous adipose tissue and mature adipocytes. Functional studies indicated that bta-miR-30f increased lipid accumulation via enhanced adipogenesis and UFA levels, upregulating key genes including <i>PPARG</i>, <i>C/EBPα</i>, <i>SCD</i>, and <i>FADS1/2</i>. It also promoted cell proliferation. Mechanistically, the dual luciferase assay confirmed that bta-miR-30f interacted with <i>RAD23B</i>, whose knockdown similarly increased lipid deposition and UFA content in buffalo intramuscular preadipocytes. Thus, this study demonstrated that bta-miR-30f enhances adipogenesis differentiation and UFA accumulation by targeting <i>RAD23B</i> in buffalo intramuscular preadipocytes, which provides significant information for the genetic improvement of meat quality in buffaloes.