BACKGROUND Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified consistent associations with obesity. However, the mechanisms remain unclear. OBJECTIVE The objective was to determine the association between obesity susceptibility loci and dietary intake. DESIGN The association of GWAS-identified obesity risk alleles (FTO, MC4R, SH2B1, BDNF, INSIG2, TNNI3K, NISCH-STAB1, MTIF3, MAP2K5, QPCT...

End-product feedback inhibition of cholesterol synthesis was first demonstrated in living animals by Schoenheimer 72 years ago. Current studies define Insig proteins as essential elements of this feedback system in mouse liver. In cultured cells, Insig proteins are required for sterol-mediated inhibition of the processing of sterol regulatory element-binding proteins (SREBPs) to their nuclear f...

Rates of adenocarcinoma of the esophagus (EAC) and esophagogastric junction (EGJAC) have been rising rapidly in recent decades, in contrast to the declining rates of esophageal squamous cell carcinomas (ESCC). Obesity is a major risk factor for both EAC and EGJAC, but not ESCC, and there is speculation that obesity promotes adenocarcinoma development through endocrine and related pathways. We t...

Barnard, Alle N. M.S., Purdue University, August 2014. 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D alters lipid metabolism and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in metastatic epithelial breast cancer cells. Major Professor: Dorothy Teegarden. Evidence suggests that high vitamin D status (marked by serum 25hydroxyvitamin D, 25(OH)2D) is associated with a decreased risk of breast cancer. It has been established t...

Obesity can result from the disequilibrium between energy intake and expenditure associated with alterations of many metabolic pathways [1] . As many cellular functions related to energy homeostasis are regulated by gene expression and gene-environment interactions, individual variation in body weight/composition and adipose metabolism could be influenced by genetic makeup and nutrient intake. ...

Obesity is a worldwide individual and public health issue, and contributes to the development of numerous chronic diseases. In particular, maternal obesity has harmful effects on both the mother and child during and after pregnancy. The digestion and metabolism of food are controlled by endocrine factors, including insulin, glucagon and estrogen. These hormonal factors are differentially regula...

Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified many SNPs underlying variations in plasma-lipid levels. We explore whether additional loci associated with plasma-lipid phenotypes, such as high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), total cholesterol (TC), and triglycerides (TGs), can be identified by a dense gene-centric approach. Our meta-...