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Sex-specific role of epigenetic modification of a leptin upstream enhancer in adipose tissue.
Clin. Epigenet. 17:21 (2025)
OBJECTIVE: Maternal hormonal status can have long-term effects on offspring metabolic health and is likely regulated via epigenetic mechanisms. We elucidated the effects of maternal thyroid hormones on the epigenetic regulation of leptin (Lep) transcription in adipose tissue (AT) and subsequently investigated the role of DNA methylation at a Lep upstream enhancer (UE) in adipocyte biology. RESULTS: Pregnant mice treated with triiodothyronine (T3) produced offspring with reduced body weight, total fat mass, and gonadal white adipose tissue (gWAT) mass at 6 months of age (treatment: N = 8; control: N = 12). Compared with control offspring, exclusively female offspring of T3-treated mothers presented lower Lep mRNA levels and higher Lep UE methylation in gWAT. In murine preadipocytes, targeted demethylation of the Lep UE via a dCas9-SunTag-TET1 system reduced methylation by ~ 20%, but this effect was insufficient to alter Lep expression or lipid accumulation after differentiation. In human omental visceral AT (OVAT) samples from the Leipzig Obesity BioBank (LOBB, N = 52), LEP UE methylation was associated with body fat percentage, and mediation analysis indicated that leptin serum levels partially mediate this association exclusively in females. CONCLUSION: Findings from the animal model suggest that maternal thyroid hormones influence offspring gWAT Lep expression in a sex-specific manner, potentially through changes in Lep UE methylation. However, in vitro experiments indicate that Lep UE methylation alone is not sufficient to regulate Lep expression or adipocyte lipid accumulation. In humans with obesity, LEP UE methylation is associated with body fat percentage, with leptin serum levels potentially acting as a mediator exclusively in females.
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Publication type
Article: Journal article
Document type
Scientific Article
Keywords
Adipose Tissue ; Body Fat ; Dna Methylation ; Epigenetic Editing ; Leptin Upstream Enhancer ; Maternal Thyroid Hormones ; Sex Specific; Gender-differences; Dcas9-peptide Repeat; Expression; Pregnancy; Estrogen; Children; Database; Obesity; Growth
ISSN (print) / ISBN
1868-7075
e-ISSN
1868-7083
Journal
Clinical Epigenetics
Quellenangaben
Volume: 17,
Issue: 1,
Article Number: 21
Publisher
Springer
Publishing Place
Berlin : Heidelberg
Non-patent literature
Publications
Reviewing status
Peer reviewed
Institute(s)
Helmholtz Institute for Metabolism, Obesity and Vascular Research (HI-MAG)
Grants
BMBF through the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD e.V.)
Ministry of Culture and Science of the state North Rhine- Westphalia (Dusseldorf, Germany)
German Federal Ministry of Health (Berlin, Germany)
German Center for Diabetes Research (Deutsches Zentrum fur Diabetesforschung, DZD)
Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Germany
German Research Council DFG
Projekt DEAL
Ministry of Culture and Science of the state North Rhine- Westphalia (Dusseldorf, Germany)
German Federal Ministry of Health (Berlin, Germany)
German Center for Diabetes Research (Deutsches Zentrum fur Diabetesforschung, DZD)
Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Germany
German Research Council DFG
Projekt DEAL