Profiles of metabolic gene expression in the white adipose tissue, liver and hypothalamus in leptin knockout (Lep ) rats

Leptin deficiency is principally linked to metabolic disorders. Leptin knockout (Lep) Sprague Dawley rats created by CRISPR/Cas9 is a new model to study metabolic disorders. We used a whole rat genome oligonucleotide microarray to obtain tissue-specific gene expression profiles of the white adipose tissue, liver and hypothalamus in Lep and wild-type (WT) rats. We found 1,651 differentially expressed (enriched) genes in white adipose tissue, 916 in the liver, and 306 in the hypothalamus in the Lep rats compared to WT. Gene ontology category and KEGG pathway analysis of the relationships among differentially expressed genes showed that these genes were represented in a variety of functional categories, including fatty acid metabolism, molecular transducers and cellular processes. The reliability of the data obtained from microarray was verified by quantitative real-time PCR on 14 representative genes. These data will contribute to a greater understanding of different metabolic disorders, such as obesity and diabetes.