Relationship between obesity phenotypes and genetic determinants in a mouse model for juvenile obesity.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-16-2013
JAX Source
Physiol Genomics 2013 Sep 16; 45(18):817-26.
Volume
45
Issue
18
First Page
817
Last Page
826
ISSN
1531-2267
PMID
23922126
Abstract
Obesity, a state of imbalance between lean mass and fat mass, is important for the etiology of diseases affected by the interplay of multiple genetic and environmental factors. Although genome-wide association studies have repeatedly associated genes with obesity and body weight, the mechanisms underlying the interaction between the muscle and adipose tissues remain unknown. Using 351 mice (at 10 wk of age) of an intercross population between Berlin Fat Mouse Inbred (BFMI) and C57BL/6NCrl (B6N) mice, we examined the causal relationships between genetic variations and multiple traits: body lean mass and fat mass, adipokines, and bone mineral density. Furthermore, evidence from structural equation modeling suggests causality among these traits. In the BFMI model, juvenile obesity affects lean mass and impairs bone mineral density via adipokines secreted from the white adipose tissues. While previous studies have indicated that lean mass has a causative effect on adiposity, in the Berlin Fat Mouse model that has been selected for juvenile obesity (at 9 wk of age) for >90 generations, however, the causality is switched from fat mass to lean mass. In addition, linkage studies and statistical modeling have indicated that quantitative trait loci on chromosomes 5 and 6 affect both lean mass and fat mass. These lines of evidence indicate that the muscle and adipose tissues interact with one another and the interaction is modulated by genetic variations that are shaped by selections. Experimental examinations are necessary to verify the biological role of the inferred causalities. Physiol Genomics 2013 Sep 16; 45(18):817-26.
Recommended Citation
Brockmann G,
Schäfer N,
Hesse C,
Heise S,
Neuschl C,
Wagener A,
Churchill G,
Li R.
Relationship between obesity phenotypes and genetic determinants in a mouse model for juvenile obesity. Physiol Genomics 2013 Sep 16; 45(18):817-26.