RESUMEN
We identified a glycoprotein hormone beta-subunit (OGH, also called GPB5) that, as a heterodimer with the alpha-subunit GPA2, serves as a second ligand for the thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor. Mice in which the OGH gene is deleted (OGH-/-) are indistinguishable from WT littermates in body weight, response to high-fat diet, metabolic parameters, body composition, and insulin tolerance. Mice engineered to transgenically globally overexpress OGH (OGH-TG) develop approximately 2-fold elevations in their basal thyroid levels and weigh slightly less than WT littermates despite increased food intake because of an increase in their metabolic rates. Moreover, when OGH-TG mice are challenged with a high-fat diet, they gain significantly less weight and body fat than their WT littermates. The OGH-TG mice also have reduced blood glucose, insulin, cholesterol, and triglycerides. In contrast to other approaches in which the thyroid axis is activated, OGH-TG mice exhibit only minor changes in heart rate and blood pressure. Our findings suggest that constitutive low-level activation of the thyroid axis (via OGH or other means) may provide a beneficial therapeutic approach for combating diet-induced obesity.
Asunto(s)
Glicoproteínas/genética , Obesidad/genética , Hormonas Peptídicas/genética , Animales , Peso Corporal , Grasas de la Dieta/administración & dosificación , Expresión Génica , Genes Reporteros , Operón Lac , Ratones , Ratones Endogámicos C57BL , Ratones Noqueados , Ratones Transgénicos , Modelos Biológicos , Datos de Secuencia Molecular , Obesidad/metabolismo , Obesidad/patología , FenotipoRESUMEN
The subtelomeric DNA sequences from chromosome I of Saccharomyces cerevisiae are shown to be inherently poor substrates for meiotic recombination. On the basis of these results and prior observations that crossovers near telomeres do not promote efficient meiosis I segregation, we suggest that subtelomeric sequences evolved to prevent recombination from occurring where it cannot promote efficient segregation.