Unconventional microarray design reveals the response to obesity is largely tissue specific: analysis of common and divergent responses to diet-induced obesity in insulin-sensitive tissues

Robyn K. Lee, Dustin S. Hittel, Vongai Z. Nyamandi, Li Kang, Jung Soh, Christoph W. Sensen, Jane Shearer (Lead / Corresponding author)

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    14 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Obesity is a chronic condition involving the excessive accumulation of adipose tissue that adversely affects all systems in the body. The aim of the present study was to employ an unbiased, genome-wide assessment of transcript abundance in order to identify common gene expression pathways within insulin-sensitive tissues in response to dietary-induced diabetes. Following 20 weeks of chow or high-fat feeding (60% kcal), age-matched mice underwent a euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp to assess insulin sensitivity. High-fat-fed animals were obese and highly insulin resistant, disposing of ∼75% less glucose compared with their chow-fed counterparts. Tissues were collected, and gene expression was examined by microarray in 4 tissues known to exhibit obesity-related metabolic disturbances: white adipose tissue, skeletal muscle, liver, and heart. A total of 463 genes were differentially expressed between diets. Analysis of individual tissues showed skeletal muscle to exhibit the largest number of differentially expressed genes (191) in response to high-fat feeding, followed by adipose tissue (169), liver (115), and heart (65). Analyses revealed that the response of individual genes to obesity is distinct and largely tissue specific, with less than 10% of transcripts being shared among tissues. Although transcripts are largely tissue specific, a systems approach shows numerous commonly activated pathways, including those involved in signal transduction, inflammation, oxidative stress, substrate transport, and metabolism. This suggests a coordinated attempt by tissues to limit metabolic perturbations occurring in early-stage obesity. Many identified genes were associated with a variety of disorders, thereby serving as potential links between obesity and its related health risks.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)257-268
    Number of pages12
    JournalApplied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism
    Volume37
    Issue number2
    Early online date27 Mar 2012
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Apr 2012

    Keywords

    • Adipose Tissue/metabolism
    • Adipose Tissue, White/metabolism
    • Animals
    • DNA, Complementary
    • Diet, High-Fat
    • Dietary Fats/administration & dosage
    • Gene Expression Profiling
    • Heart/physiology
    • Inflammation/metabolism
    • Insulin Resistance/physiology
    • Liver/metabolism
    • Male
    • Mice
    • Mice, Inbred C57BL
    • Multigene Family
    • Muscle, Skeletal/metabolism
    • Obesity/genetics
    • Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis/methods
    • Signal Transduction

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