FTO associations with obesity and telomere length

Journal of Biomedical Science

Review

Brett D. Hambly¹  Yuling Zhou²  Craig S. McLachlan² 

[1] Discipline of Pathology and Bosch Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia;Rural Clinical School, University of New South Wales, 2052, Sydney, Australia;

关键词: Obesity;    Genetic polymorphism;    Nutrient sensing;    FTO SNPs;    Telomere length;    Energy balance;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12929-017-0372-6

 received in 2017-03-26, accepted in 2017-08-23,  发布年份 2017

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

This review examines the biology of the Fat mass- and obesity-associated gene (FTO), and the implications of genetic association of FTO SNPs with obesity and genetic aging. Notably, we focus on the role of FTO in the regulation of methylation status as possible regulators of weight gain and genetic aging. We present a theoretical review of the FTO gene with a particular emphasis on associations with UCP2, AMPK, RBL2, IRX3, CUX1, mTORC1 and hormones involved in hunger regulation. These associations are important for dietary behavior regulation and cellular nutrient sensing via amino acids. We suggest that these pathways may also influence telomere regulation. Telomere length (TL) attrition may be influenced by obesity-related inflammation and oxidative stress, and FTO gene-involved pathways. There is additional emerging evidence to suggest that telomere length and obesity are bi-directionally associated. However, the role of obesity risk-related genotypes and associations with TL are not well understood. The FTO gene may influence pathways implicated in regulation of TL, which could help to explain some of the non-consistent relationship between weight phenotype and telomere length that is observed in population studies investigating obesity.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2017