Evaluation of the diurnal expression pattern of Dicer enzyme and its influence on the expression of clock genes in adipocytes

• Grant number: 18/02171-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: June 01, 2018
• End date: December 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Physiology - Physiology of Organs and Systems
• Principal Investigator: Marcelo Alves da Silva Mori
• Grantee: Gabriel Palermo Ruiz
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 17/01184-9 - CAMeLEOm: cross-species analysis of metabolic, lifespan effects and omics of dietary restriction mimetics, AP.TEM

Abstract

Obesity is one of the greatest problems of public health in the world today, especially because of its epidemic and growing character. Overweight and obesity are risk factors for many diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer, and the increase in adipose tissue is closely related to the incidence of these pathologies. Adipose tissue, combined with the biological clock, plays an important role in the regulation of metabolism. It is known that the desynchronization of the biological clock fosters the development of obesity and metabolic diseases. The Dicer enzyme is a key component in microRNAs processing, and has been described by regulating the expression of clock genes. Studies have demonstrated that Dicer presents a diurnal pattern of expression in several tissues, however, there is no data on the profile of its expression in adipose tissue. Moreover, nothing is known about the control of Dicer's rhythmic expression in adipocytes, whether it is an autonomous, independent of the systemic context of the organism, or non-autonomous, dependent on it. Thus, the present project aims to study the rhythmic expression profile of Dicer in different adipocyte lineages, and its relation with the molecular machinery of the biological clock. (AU)