Life-long caloric restriction-associated remodeling of rat white adipose tissue

This study explored the role of the growth hormone (GH) / insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) axis on the life-long caloric restriction (CR)-associated remodeling of white adipose tissue (WAT). Adipocyte size and gene expression profiles, using high-density oligonucleotide microarrays, were analyzed in WAT of six- to seven-month old wild Wistar rats fed ad libitum (AL) or subjected to a 30% caloric restriction (CR), and heterozygous transgenic dwarf rats bearing an anti-sense GH transgene fed ad libitum (Tg). While not significant in Tg rats, adipocyte size was significantly reduced in CR rats compared with AL rats. The microarray data based on the principal component analysis demonstrated that the gene expression profile of CR rats markedly differed from the AL rats, while Tg hardly differed, suggesting that CR-associated WAT remodeling was predominantly regulated in a GH/IGF-1-independent manner. The gene cluster with the largest change induced by CR included several genes involved in lipid biosynthesis and inflammation. Moreover, many of the genes transcriptionally regulated by sterol regulatory element binding proteins (SREBPs) were found in the cluster related to lipid biosynthesis. Real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction analysis confirmed that the expression of SREBP-1 and its down-stream targets was particularly up-regulated in CR rats compared with SREBP-2 and its down-stream targets. Our findings suggest that SREBP-1 is a major transcription factor in CR-associated remodeling of WAT, and might be one of the key regulators of the anti-aging and pro-longevity effects of CR.

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Chujo Y, Fujii N, Okita N, Konishi T, Narita T, Yamada A, Haruyama Y, Tashiro K, Chiba T, Shimokawa I, Higami Y