Expression data from livers of F2 mice (C57BL/6 X DBA/2) deficient in leptin receptor (db/db). Mus musculus

In several models of obesity-induced diabetes, increased lipid accumulation in the liver has been associated with decreased diabetes susceptibility. For instance, deficiency in leptin receptor (db/db) leads to hyperphagia and obesity in both C57BL/6 and C57BLKS mice but, only on the C57BLKS background do the mice develop beta-cell loss leading to severe diabetes while C57BL/6 mice are relatively resistant. Liver triglyceride levels in the resistant C57BL/6 mice are 3 to 4 fold higher than in C57BLKS. To better understand the mechanisms contributing to metabolic dysfunction in obesity-induced diabetes, we used microarrays to comprehensively profile gene expression livers of F2 mice (B57BL/6 X DBA/2) deficient in leptin receptor (db/db) Overall design: DBA/2J females were mated to C57BL/6 males carrying leptin receptor deficiency (db/+) and, F1 (db/+) offspring were interbred to produce F2 mice. Offspring deficient in leptin receptor (db/db) were fed on a chow diet until 5 weeks or 12 weeks of age and then euthanized for collection of liver tissue for RNA profiling along with other diabetes-related phenotypes.