Lovisa Lundholm , Ph.D. student Office phone: +46-(0)8-6089143 Lab phone: +46-(0)8-6089144 Fax: +46-(0)8-7745538 e-mail: lovisa.lundholm@biosci.ki.se

Molecular mechanisms of estrogen action in relation to metabolic disease

Obesity has become a major health problem in many parts of the world. Overweight and obesity is associated with an increased risk for diseases such as type II diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and certain cancers.

The incidence of disease is in particular related to a central, android fat distribution, typical for males. Women usually increase their body fat mass after menopause when estrogen levels decrease, and also shift to an android fat distribution. Estrogens reduce adipose tissue mass in both humans and animals. The molecular mechanisms for this effect are, however, not well characterized. We are using gene expression profiling to study effects of estrogen on mouse white adipose tissue. We have discovered that LXRΑ represents an estrogen-regulated pathway in adipose tissue. In addition, several other metabolism-associated genes has been identified as possible mediators of estrogen-induced reduction of adipose tissue.

Reference

Lundholm L, Moverare S, Steffensen KR, Nilsson M, Otsuki M, Ohlsson C, Gustafsson JA, Dahlman-Wright K. Gene expression profiling identifies liver X receptor alpha as an estrogen-regulated gene in mouse adipose tissue.
J Mol Endocrinol, 32(3), 879-92, 2004.