Simple SummaryThere are many existing studies related to goat adipose deposition. However, no studies have reported the role of theCXCL17gene on adipose deposition in goats before. The aim of this study was to explore the effect ofCXCL17on goat subcutaneous preadipocytes proliferation and provide potential targets for goat-directed molecular breeding. The results showed that the exogenous expression ofCXCL17at different doses had different regulatory effects on the proliferation of subcutaneous preadipocytes of goats.AbstractThe presence or absence of subcutaneous adipose accumulation will affect the energy storage, insulation resistance and metabolism of animals. Proliferation and differentiation of preadipocytes play a significant role in lipid deposition. The objective of this study was to clone the goatCXCL17gene and investigate its potential functions on goat subcutaneous preadipocytes’ proliferation by gaining or losing function in vitro. The goatCXCL17gene was cloned by Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) and bioinformatics analysis was performed. The expression of theCXCL17gene in the different goat tissues and adipocytes at different differentiation stages was detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (qPCR). The results showed that the cloned sequence of goatCXCL17gene is 728 bp and the CDS region is 357 bp, encoding 118 amino acids.CXCL17protein is located in nucleus, cytoplasm, mitochondria and extracellular matrix. Tissue-expression profiles revealed thatCXCL17expressed in all of the examined tissues. In visceral tissues, the highest expression level was found in lung (p< 0.01); in muscle tissues, the highestCXCL17expression level was found in the longissimus dorsi (p< 0.01) and in adipose tissues, the highest expression level was found in subcutaneous adipose (p<0.01). Compared with those cells before differentiation,CXCL17expression levels upregulated at 48 h (p< 0.01), 72 h (p< 0.01), 120 h (p< 0.01) and downregulated at 96 h (p< 0.01). Furthermore, the results of crystal violet staining and semi-quantitative assay showed that transfection with 1 μgCXCL17expression plasmid reduced the cell numbers in vitro. Meanwhile, the expression ofCCND1was significantly decreased. A similar consequence happened after interfering withCXCL17expression. However, plasmid transfected with 2 μg pEGFPN1-CXCL17increased the number of cells in vitro. These results suggest thatCXCL17is involved in the proliferation of goat subcutaneous preadipocytes.