Th-POK plays an important role in lipid metabolism regulation.

Recently, the Chinese Academy of Sciences Shanghai Institute of Life Sciences Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, The latest collaborative research results of the study, with Th-moges mammary mamand land lactation through mTOR-SREBP pathway, published online in PLOS Genetics, the study revealed the new functions of transcription factor Th-POK in metabolic regulation.
Th-POK transcription factors play a key regulatory role in the directional differentiation of T lymphocyte lineages and participate in negative regulation of extracellular matrix protein expression.
but the other physiological and pathological functions of Th-POK transcription factors are poorly known.
graduate students Zhang Rui, Ma Huimin, postdoctoral gao Hao and other researchers, under the guidance of researchers Ge Gaoxiang and Liu Xiaolong, systematically analyzed the th-POK gene knockout of the mouse phenotype.
studies have found that Th-POK is highly expressed in breast epithelial cells, and is specifically expressed in breast cavity epithelial cells, and its expression levels peak in the end of pregnancy and lactation.
the absence of Th-POK did not affect the development of breast puberty in mice and the proliferation and differentiation of the breast epithelial during pregnancy, suggesting that Th-POK was not involved in regulating breast epithelial cell differentiation and fate decision.
Th-POK knockout mice had serious defects in the lactation stage after delivery, and their breast glands were not able to effectively secrete lipid droplets in their epithelial cells. Further mechanism studies
found that Th-POK directly regulates the expression of IRS-1, a key joint protein downstream of insulin receptors, and then regulates the insulin-induced mTOR signaling pathway, transcription factor SREBP1 function and lipid synthesis.
this work expands the understanding of the biological function of Th-POK and reveals the important role of Th-POK in metabolic regulation, especially lipid metabolism regulation.
research work has been supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Chinese Academy of Sciences' strategic leading science and technology projects.
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