Studies on the fat mass and obesity-associated (FTO) gene and its impact on obesity-associated diseases.

ABSTRACT: Obesity has become a major health crisis in the past ∼50 years. The fat mass and obesity-associated (FTO) gene, identified by genome-wide association studies (GWAS), was first reported to be positively associated with obesity in humans. Mice with more copies of the FTO gene were observed to be obese, while loss of the gene in mice was found to protect from obesity. Later, FTO was found to encode an m⁶A RNA demethylase and has a profound effect on many biological and metabolic processes. In this review, we first summarize recent studies that demonstrate the critical roles and regulatory mechanisms of FTO in obesity and metabolic disease. Second, we discuss the ongoing debates concerning the association between FTO polymorphisms and obesity. Third, since several small molecule dru

SUBMITTER: Huang C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10404889 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature