Project description:Leanness is associated with increased lifespan and is linked to favorable metabolic conditions promoting life extension. We show here that deficiency of the lipid synthesis enzyme acyl CoA:diacylglycerol acyltransferase 1 (DGAT1), which reduces body fat in mice, promotes longevity. Female DGAT1-deficient mice were protected from age-related increases in body fat, non-adipose tissue triglycerides, and markers of inflammation in white adipose tissue. These metabolic changes were accompanied by an increased mean and maximal lifespan of ~25% and ~10%, respectively. The gene expression profile of DGAT1-deficient mice was not highly correlated with calorie restriction of sex and age matched wild-type littermates. Our findings indicate that loss of DGAT1-mediated lipid synthesis results in leanness, protects against age-related metabolic consequences, and thus extends longevity. Liver gene expression profiles between short-term calorie restricted wild-type (WTCR) and Dgat1 deficient (KO) middle-aged (15-16 mo) female mice were compared to determine if calorie restriction and Dgat1 deficiency rely on common regulatory pathways for the promotion of longevity. Both CR and KO were compared to middle-aged wild-type female littermates fed a standard chow diet ad libitum (WTAL).
Project description:To investigate the global gene expression dynamics associated with short-term fasting, we used mRNA-seq to profile the transcriptomes of nine organs obtained from mice subjected to six different STF duration (0, 2, 8, 12, 18 and 22 hours of fasting; n=3 per time point; Fig. 1a). The nine organs profiled were: olfactory bulb (OB), brain (BRN, which includes the telencephalon and diencephalon), cerebellum (CBL), brainstem (BST, which consists of the mesencephalon, pons, and myelencephalon), stomach (STM), liver (LIV), interscapular brown adipose tissue (iBAT), perigonadal white adipose tissue (pgWAT), and posterior-subcutaneous white adipose tissue (psWAT).
Project description:To provide a robust understanding of a transcriptomic change by short-term CR at body fat of mice, we applied three serial strengths of CR to mice including 15%, 30%, and 45% reduction of carbon source. Using Affymetrix mouse 1.0 ST array platform, we obtained and analyzed the transcriptome data for significantly changed genes in expression. Here, we identified 446 genes and categorized the genes based on their biological roles. We observed gradual down-regulation of several signaling pathways including insulin/insulin-like growth factor (IGF) 1, epidermal growth factor (EGF), transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) and canonical Wingless-type mouse mammary tumor virus integration site (Wnt) signaling according to the CR strengths. Many genes related to structural feature including extracellular matrix (ECM), cell adhesion and cytoskeleton were also down-regulated with a strong correlation to the serial CR treatments. Furthermore, genes for cell cycle and adipogenesis were down-regulated. According to previous studies, these are target functions of the aforementioned four signaling pathways. On the other hand, the genes for specific metabolic features including tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle and electron transport chain (ETC) exhibited a transcriptional increase. In addition, adipose tissue expansion markers such as leptin, Mesoderm specific transcript (Mest) and Secreted frizzled-related sequence protein 5 (Sfrp5), and most genes for transport and immune response showed a down-regulation by CR. Comparing gene expression profiles to understand transcriptomic changes of adipose tissue by serial strength (15%, 30%, and 45%) of short-term (10 weeks) caloric restriction to young age (18 weeks) mice (n=3 in each group).