Acute Wnt pathway activation positively regulates leptin gene expression in mature adipocytes.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have revealed the implication of several Wnt signaling pathway components, including its effector transcription factor 7-like 2 (TCF7L2) in diabetes and other metabolic disorders. As TCF7L2 is expressed in adipocytes, we investigated its expression and function in rodent fat tissue and mature adipocytes. We found that TCF7L2 mRNA expression in C57BL/6 mouse epididymal fat tissue was up-regulated by feeding but down-regulated by intraperitoneal insulin injection.

Alterations in methylation and expression levels of imprinted genes H19 and Igf2 in the fetuses of diabetic mice.

The study aimed to reveal alterations in expression and methylation levels of the growth-related imprinted genes H19 and Igf2 in fetuses of diabetic mice. Diabetes was induced in female mice by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin. DNA and total RNA were extracted from fetuses obtained from diabetic and control dams on embryonic day (E) 14.

Exposure of preimplantation embryos to insulin alters expression of imprinted genes.

Insulin promotes early embryonic development, but whether this action affects postimplantation fetal development and alters the expression of imprinted genes remain to be determined. This study analyzed the expression and methylation levels of the growth-related imprinted genes H19 and insulin-like growth factor 2 (Igf2) in fetuses exposed to insulin before implantation. We cultured 2-cell embryos in either 0 or 0.