Expression characteristics of ANGPTL-3 and ANGPTL-4 in duck liver and adipose tissues during early post-hatching development

Angiopoietin-like protein 3 and -4 (ANGPTL-3 and -4) are generally related to lipid metabolism as well as angiogenesis in animals, however very less was known about their mRNA expression characterizations in tissue development. In this study, the mRNA expressions of ANGPTL-3 and ANGPTL-4 (ANGPTL-3 and -4) and tissue distribution in Peking duck (Anas platyrhynchos) of 1 to 8 weeks of age were analyzed using quantitative real-time PCR methods. It was observed that ANGPTL-3 and -4 mRNAs were broadly expressed in duck liver and adipose tissues and were most abundant in intra-abdominal adipose tissue (AD). ANGPTL-3 and -4 had different expression patterns in tissues. These data suggested that both duck ANGPTL-3 and -4 could be related to the development of tissues, and ANGPTL-4 may contribute to the development of adipose tissue through promoting adipocyte differentiation.