BCL11B gene heterozygosity causes weight loss accompanied by increased energy consumption, but not defective adipogenesis, in mice.

Jun Inoue, Yusuke Ihara, Daisuke Tsukamoto, Keisuke Yasumoto, Tsutomu Hashidume, Kenya Kamimura, Shigeki Hirano, Makoto Shimizu, Ryo Kominami, Ryuichiro Sato

Bioscience, biotechnology, and biochemistry 2017 May

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BCL11B is a zinc finger-type transcription factor that regulates the development of the white adipose tissue (WAT), skin, central nervous system, and immune system. BCL11B is required for proper adipocyte differentiation, and BCL11B-/- embryos at E19.5 have very low amounts of the subcutaneous WAT. Here, we demonstrated that BCL11B+/- mice have lower body weight than BCL11B+/+ mice, whereas the expression of adipogenic marker genes in the WAT was comparable between BCL11B+/+ and BCL11B+/- mice. Histological analysis indicated that BCL11B+/- mice fed a high-fat diet have much smaller white adipocytes and lipid droplets in the WAT and liver, respectively. In addition, BCL11B+/- mice had increased energy consumption under both standard and high-fat diets. Thus, this study identifies BCL11B as a regulator of energy metabolism, and it is unlikely that BCL11B functions in the WAT contribute to energy metabolism in BCL11B+/- mice.

Citation

Jun Inoue, Yusuke Ihara, Daisuke Tsukamoto, Keisuke Yasumoto, Tsutomu Hashidume, Kenya Kamimura, Shigeki Hirano, Makoto Shimizu, Ryo Kominami, Ryuichiro Sato. BCL11B gene heterozygosity causes weight loss accompanied by increased energy consumption, but not defective adipogenesis, in mice. Bioscience, biotechnology, and biochemistry. 2017 May;81(5):922-930