Intramuscular fat (IMF) is one of the crucial factors determining chicken quality. IMF deposition depends on the hyperplasia and hypertrophy of intramuscular preadipocytes, in which microRNAs (miRNAs) play an important regulatory role. This study aimed to elucidate how gga-miR-213 and Kruppel-like factor 10 (KLF10) regulate IMF deposition through intramuscular preadipocyte development. RNA-seq profiling revealed that KLF10 and gga-miR-213 were identified as likely involved in the adipogenic differentiation of chicken embryonic breast muscle. Experimental evidence demonstrated that gga-miR-213 mimics significantly suppressed mitotic activity while accelerating lipid accumulation in developing adipocytes. Conversely, inhibition of gga-miR-213 through specific antagonists enhanced cellular proliferation capacity and effectively inhibited adipogenic differentiation. Gga-miR-213 was found to directly bind to the 3′ untranslated region of KLF10 by dual-luciferase reporter assay. The regulatory effect of KLF10 was opposite to that of gga-miR-213. Loss-of-function experiments suggested that gga-miR-213 inhibitor eliminated the impact of KLF10 siRNA on intramuscular preadipocytes. Collectively, gga-miR-213 inhibits proliferation but promotes differentiation of intramuscular preadipocytes by targeting KLF10, thereby controlling embryonic IMF deposition. The miR-213/KLF10 axis provides molecular targets for precision breeding to modulate poultry meat quality.

To Cite This Article: Chen R, Sun N, Zhao J, Zhao Z and Sun J 2025. Gga-miR-213 promotes the differentiation of intramuscular preadipocytes by targeting the KLF10 gene in chicken. Pak Vet J. http://dx.doi.org/10.29261/pakvetj/2025.229