Influence of HF diet on hepatic Dnmt gene expression and global DNA methylation.

<p>(<b>A–C</b>) Quantification of Dnmt gene expression after 12 weeks of feeding (n = 5–6). Control mice showed stronger expression for Dnmt1 (Ct = 25.13±0.06) and <i>de novo</i> Dnmt3a (Ct = 28.10±0.15) than for <i>de novo</i> Dnmt3b (Ct = 30.55±0.31). Upon HF feeding, Dnmt1 mRNA expression was unaltered (Ct = 25.03±0.11), but gene expression of Dnmt3a (Ct = 28.28±0.18) and Dnmt3b (Ct = 31.37±0.14) decreased, respectively. (<b>D</b>) Analysis of hepatic global DNA methylation of control and HF animals (n = 6). DNA methylation was calculated from the (<i>Hpa</i>II/<i>Msp</i>I) ratio, whereby a ratio of 1 indicates 0% methylation and a ratio approaching 0 corresponds to 100% DNA methylation at the investigated sites. Data are presented as mean ± SEM. Open and grey bars represent control and HF animals, respectively. Asterisk indicates statistical significance (p<0.05).