UNRAVELING MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR MECHANISMS UNDERLYING INTRAMUSCULAR, SUBCUTANEOUS, AND VISCERAL ADIPOSE TISSUE GROWTH IN BEEF CATTLE

Our over-arching goal is to develop novel approaches to increase marbling while limiting undesirable fatness in beef steers. Our proposal-specific goal is to define depot-specificcellular heterogeneity, adipocyte progenitor cellfunction, and the role of adipose tissue extracellular matrix (ECM) on the modulation of fat growth in beef steers.Using beef steers varying in marbling and fatness degrees, our project-specific objectives are to:1: Define the depot-specific transcriptional cellular diversity of intramuscular (IMAT), subcutaneous (SCAT), and visceral (VIAT) adipose tissue.2: Delineate the metabolic phenotypes of distinct adipocyte progenitor cell subtypes (ASPC) in IMAT, SCAT, and VIAT.3: Determine the depot-specific role of the ECM in regulating ASPCfunction and the cell-mediated ECM remodeling in IMAT, SCAT, and VIAT.