Involvement of miR-196a and miR-155 in the browning process of white adipose tissue (subcutaneous), in vivo and in vitro, in obesity condition during treatment with green tea

• Grant number: 17/16825-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): March 01, 2018
• Effective date (End): June 30, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Physiology - General Physiology
• Principal Investigator: Rosemari Otton
• Grantee: Amaury Pinfildi de Freitas Bunho
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde. Universidade Cruzeiro do Sul (UNICSUL). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Obesity is a chronic and global disease of an exponential nature whose main cause is the imbalance between calorie intake and energy expenditure, thus leading to an excessive fat accumulation besides to being related with a wide range of other diseases such as diabetes mellitus type 2 and numerous cardiovascular diseases. One of the tissues with the greatest regulatory potential and today considered indispensable for metabolic homeostasis is brown adipose tissue (BAT), which due to its high energy demand characteristics and for promoting intense thermogenic activity, is a major player in the fight against obesity, contributing for weight loss. Many studies are looking for natural foods or compounds that may stimulate energy expenditure and thus represent an adjuvant with therapeutic potential in the treatment of obesity, including green tea. Recent studies have demonstrated that this tea has an important role in regulating the differentiation and transdifferentiation processes of white adipose tissue, through the modulation of several microRNAs capable of promoting browning, with a consequent increase in energy expenditure. MicroRNAs are small non-protein-coding RNA molecules that are responsible for regulating post-transcriptionally, and in an orchestrated way, various cellular processes of our organisms such as cell differentiation, energy metabolism, adipogenesis, among many others. The objective of this study is to analyze the effect of green tea supplementation on the browning of 3T3-F442a pre-adipocytes in vitro, as well on subcutaneous white adipose tissue of mice induced obesity by high fat diet (HFD). These effects will be evaluated through qPCR by the expression of miR-196a and miR-155 as well as by the evaluation of the target genes of these miRNAs and others related to the browning process with the intention of clarifying at molecular level the therapeutic potential of green tea for the treatment of obesity by the induction of mechanisms that increase energy expenditure. The genes to be evaluated are: C/ebp², Hoxc8, Cidea, Fgf21, Fndc5, Ppar±, Ppar³, Ppargc-1±, Prdm16, Tbx15, Tmem26 and Ucp1. (AU)