Leptin Signaling in Liver Tissue of a Transgenic Breast Cancer Mouse Model

Leptin, an adipocytokine, is secreted from various tissues including the liver. The roles of both leptin and leptin receptor (ObR) in numerous pathophysiological conditions including mammary tumor (MT) development have been reported. However, the roles of leptin signaling-related proteins in the liver have not been reported previously in MT development. The objective of this study was to examine the expression levels of leptin and ObR in liver tissue of a transgenic breast cancer mouse model to investigate whether the roles of leptin in MT development are systemic or local. MMTV-TGF-α transgenic female mice were fed ad-libitum from week 10 up to week 74. Protein expression levels of leptin and ObR were measured in liver tissues of 74-week-old MMTV-TGF-α mice with and without MT by western blot. Serum leptin and insulin levels were measured using a enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Protein expression levels of leptin and ObR were similar in mice with MT compared to the ones without MT. Serum leptin and insulin levels were also not significantly different between the two groups. These results indicate that the effects of leptin signaling in MT development might be important at a local tissue level, such as mammary fat pad, and not as important at a systemic level.