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Published on: April 4, 2012
Gene Therapy Approach for Treatment of Obese Agouti Mice
Maxim A Yunin1, Stanislav S Boychenko1, Petr Lebedev2
1Center for Translational Medicine, Sirius University of Science and Technology, Olympic Ave. 1, 354340 Sirius, Russia.
Abstract:
Obesity is a significant metabolic disorder associated with excessive fat accumulation and insulin resistance. In this study, we explored a gene therapy approach to treat obesity in agouti mice using adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) carrying PRDM16, FoxP4, or Follistatin (FST) genes, which are known to promote the browning of white adipose tissue. Mice treated with AAVs encoding PRDM16, FoxP4, or FST genes showed a reduction in body weight (10-14%) within the first three weeks after administration, compared to the control groups. A lipidomic analysis of the adipose tissue revealed a dramatic reduction in triacylglycerol (TAG) species with low carbon numbers (40-54 acyl carbons) in treated mice.
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