Coordinated Upregulation of Oxidative Pathways and Downregulation of Lipid Biosynthesis Underlie Obesity Resistance in Perilipin Knockout Mice A Microarray Gene

Obesity is a major risk factor for diabetes and heart disease. We previously reported that the inactivation of the gene for perilipin (plin), an adipocyte lipid droplet surface protein, produced lean and obesity-resistant mice. To dissect the underlying mechanisms involved, we used oligonucleotide microarrays to analyze the gene-expression profile of white adipose tissue (WAT), liver, heart, skeletal muscle, and kidney of plin/ and plin/ mice. As compared with wild-type littermates, the WAT of plin/ mice had 270 and 543 transcripts that were significantly up- or downregulated. There was a coordinated upregulation of genes involved in -oxi-dation, the Krebs cycle, and the electron transport chain concomitant with a downregulation of genes in-volved in lipid biosynthesis. There was also a significan