Identification of the principal transcriptional regulators for low-fat and high-fat meal responsive genes in small intestine

BACKGROUND High-fat (HF) diet is a well-known cause of obesity. To identify principle transcriptional regulators that could be therapeutic targets of obesity, we investigated transcriptomic modulation in the duodenal mucosa following low-fat (LF) and HF meal ingestion. METHODS Whereas one group of mice was sacrificed after fasting, the others were fed ad libitum with LF or HF meal, and sacrificed 30 min, 1 h and 3 h after the beginning of the meal. A transcriptome analysis of the duodenal mucosa of the 7 groups was conducted using both microarray and serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE) method followed by an Ingenuity Pathways Analysis (IPA). RESULTS SAGE and microarray showed that the modulation of a total of 896 transcripts in the duodenal mucosa after LF and/or HF meal, compared to the fasting condition. The IPA identified lipid metabolism, molecular transport, and small molecule biochemistry as top three molecular and cellular functions for the HF-responsive, HF-specific, HF-delay, and LF-HF different genes. Moreover, the top transcriptional regulator for the HF-responsive and HF-specific genes was peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα). On the other hand, the LF-responsive and LF-specific genes were related to carbohydrate metabolism, cellular function and maintenance, and cell death/cellular growth and proliferation, and the top transcriptional regulators were forkhead box protein O1 (FOXO1) and cAMP response element binding protein 1 (CREB1), respectively. CONCLUSIONS These results will help to understand the molecular mechanisms of intestinal response after LF and HF ingestions, and contribute to identify therapeutic targets for obesity and obesity-related diseases.