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Summary: The expression of adipogenic genes is decreased in
obesity and diabetes mellitus
Samuel T. Nadler*, Jonathan P. Stoehr*, Kathryn L. Schueler*, Gene Tanimoto
, Brian S. Yandell
, and Alan D. Attie*§
Departments of *Biochemistry, and Statistics and Horticulture, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, 53706; and Affymetrix, Inc., Santa Clara, CA 95051
Communicated by Neal L. First, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, July 13, 2000 (received for review April 3, 2000)
Obesity is strongly correlated with type 2 diabetes mellitus, a
common disorder of glucose and lipid metabolism. Although adi-
pocytes are critical in obesity, their role in diabetes has only
recently been appreciated. We conducted studies by using DNA
microarrays to identify differences in gene expression in adipose
tissue from lean, obese, and obese-diabetic mice. The expression
level of over 11,000 transcripts was analyzed, and 214 transcripts
showed significant differences between lean and obese mice.
Surprisingly, the expression of genes normally associated with
adipocyte differentiation were down-regulated in obesity. Not all
obese individuals will become diabetic; many remain normoglyce-
mic despite profound obesity. Understanding the transition to
obesity with concomitant diabetes will provide important clues to
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