Study of microRNAs potentially regulators of GLUT4 expression in adipose tissue of type 2 diabetes obese mice

Abstract

Obesity is a high prevalence metabolic disease, characterized by abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that may impair health. The adiposity resulting from obesity is strongly related to the development of insulin resistance in hormone dependent tissues, such as skeletal muscle, adipose tissue and liver, mainly in the first two, which is involved in lower glucose uptake, loss of glycemic control and diabetes development. Therefore, the reduced expression of glucose transporter protein GLUT4 (encoded by the SLC2A4 gene) plays a key role. Recently, a new element has been associated to the development of several cellular and metabolic dysfunctions, the microRNAs (miRNAs), which are small RNAs that act as regulators of gene expression at a post-transcriptional level, generally affecting mRNA degradation and translational capacity. In recent studies, we have demonstrated alterations of some miRNAs in skeletal muscle of diabetic rats, which have been shown as possible regulators of GLUT4 expression. However, there is a lack of knowledge about the expression of SLC2A4/GLUT4 regulatory miRNAs in adipose tissue. Thus, the present study aims to evaluate the expression of microRNAs (RT-qPCR) potentially regulators of Slc2a4/GLUT4 expression in adipose tissue of type 2 diabetes obese mice. We believe that understanding the miRNAs which act as regulators of GLUT4 will contribute to the development of new therapeutic approaches to obesity and diabetes. (AU)