MicroRNAs in fat cell development and obesity

Abstract

Obesity is a serious health problem worldwide associated with an increased risk of life-threatening diseases. A fundamental prerequisite for the development of novel therapeutics for obesity and its associated metabolic syndromes is an understanding of the regulation of fat cell development. Potential regulators include microRNAs, an abundant class of post-transcriptional regulators. In this study, we investigate the role of microRNAs in fat cell development and obesity with genome-wide expression profiling, characterization of specific microRNAs by gain-of-function approach and mechanistic study guided by computational analysis. Our results underlie the importance of microRNAs in adipose biology and have important therapeutic implications in the treatment of obesity.