miRNA is a small non-coding RNA, which plays an important role in diverse biological processes. In the present study, we explore the effect of ssc-miR-451 on porcine adipose development and meat quality. We observed that ssc-miR-451 was downregulated during porcine primary adipocyte differentiation. Overexpression of ssc-miR-451 inhibited adipogenic differentiation, while inhibition of ssc-miR-451 promoted adipogenic differentiation. The dual luciferase reporter system indicated Acetyl-CoA carboxylase alpha (ACACA) as a target gene of ssc-miR-451. Correlation analysis negatively correlated miR-451 expression with intramuscular fat content (IMF) and positively correlated ACACA expression with IMF. Further analysis of fatty acid composition revealed that pigs with high expression of ssc-miR-451 had higher monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) and lower polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA). Taken together, our study suggests that ssc-miR-451 regulates lipid deposition and fatty acid composition by targeting ACACA, and ssc-miR-451 may serve as a potential genetic marker to improve pork quality.
