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Gene expression changes in adipose tissue with diet- and/or exercise-induced weight loss
Kristin L Campbell1, Karen E Foster-Schubert, Karen W Makar
1National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), Division of Preventive Oncology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 460, Heidelberg 69120, Germany. neli.ulrich@nct-heidelberg.de
Cancer Prevention Research (Philadelphia, Pa.)
|January 24, 2013
Summary
Weight loss impacts adipose tissue gene expression, potentially reducing obesity-related cancer risk by altering steroid hormone metabolism and IGF signaling pathways. This study analyzed gene changes in overweight women undergoing diet and exercise interventions.
Area of Science:
- Molecular biology and cancer research
- Metabolic and endocrine system research
- Genomics and transcriptomics
Background:
- Adipose tissue influences obesity-related cancers through inflammatory factors, steroid hormones, and adipokines.
- Understanding weight loss effects on adipose tissue gene expression is crucial for cancer risk assessment.
- Overweight and obese postmenopausal women are a key demographic for studying these links.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of weight loss interventions on adipose tissue gene expression.
- To identify specific gene expression pathways linking obesity and cancer risk.
- To analyze changes in subcutaneous adipose tissue gene expression after 6 months of intervention.
Main Methods:
- Ancillary study within a randomized trial involving diet, exercise, or combined interventions versus control.
- Subcutaneous adipose tissue biopsies analyzed via microarray for gene expression changes in 45 overweight/obese postmenopausal women.
- Analysis included prespecified candidate pathways, unsupervised clustering of over 37,000 transcripts, and correlation with serum biomarkers.
Main Results:
- Greater weight loss correlated with decreased expression of 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase-1 (HSD17B1) and leptin (LEP).
- Marginally significant increases in estrogen receptor-1 (ESR1) and insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-3 (IGFBP3) expression were observed with greater weight loss.
- Unsupervised clustering identified 83 significantly altered transcripts, with changes correlating to serum biomarkers, particularly in steroid hormone metabolism and IGF signaling pathways.
Conclusions:
- Weight loss significantly alters adipose tissue gene expression in overweight/obese postmenopausal women.
- Observed gene expression changes in steroid hormone metabolism and IGF signaling pathways may mediate the link between obesity and cancer risk.
- These findings highlight potential molecular mechanisms through which lifestyle interventions could influence cancer prevention.
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