Department of Poultry Science, the Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
Domest Anim Endocrinol. 2012 Jan;42(1):1-10. doi: 10.1016/j.domaniend.2011.08.001. Epub 2011 Sep 21.
Fat mass and obesity associated gene (Fto), also known as Fatso, is a member of the Fe-II and 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase superfamily. Recent studies in humans and rodents suggest that Fto is involved in food intake regulation and lipid metabolism, whereas single nucleotide mutations in the Fto gene are associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes. The Fto gene is highly conserved from green algae to humans, but little is known about the avian Fto gene or protein. The objectives of the current study were to clone full-length chicken Fto cDNA and to determine the effect of age or feeding status on Fto expression. With the use of rapid amplification of cDNA ends, the full-length chicken Fto cDNA was cloned and found to share 63% to 66% homology with the mammalian Fto nucleotide sequence. Several regions of the chicken Fto protein, including the substrate (2-oxoglutarate) binding domains, were found to be identical to mammalian Fto protein. Western blotting with anti-human Fto antibody and reverse transcription PCR studies showed that Fto protein and gene were ubiquitously expressed in various tissues of the chicken. With the use of quantitative PCR, Fto mRNA levels were found to be higher in liver and skeletal muscle of 8-wk-old chickens than in 4-wk-old chickens. In addition, alterations in feeding status resulted in significant changes in Fto mRNA and Fto protein expression in the liver but not in skeletal muscle and adipose tissue of broiler chickens. Taken together, our data suggest that Fto probably plays a significant role in liver function and energy metabolism in the chicken.
肥胖相关基因（Fto），也被称为 Fatso，是铁(II)和 2-氧戊二酸依赖性双加氧酶超家族的成员。最近在人类和啮齿动物中的研究表明，Fto 参与了食物摄入的调节和脂质代谢，而 Fto 基因中的单核苷酸突变与肥胖和 2 型糖尿病有关。从绿藻到人类，Fto 基因高度保守，但关于禽类 Fto 基因或蛋白知之甚少。本研究的目的是克隆全长鸡 Fto cDNA，并确定年龄或饲养状态对 Fto 表达的影响。利用快速扩增 cDNA 末端技术，克隆了全长鸡 Fto cDNA，发现其与哺乳动物 Fto 核苷酸序列的同源性为 63%至 66%。鸡 Fto 蛋白的几个区域，包括底物（2-氧戊二酸）结合域，与哺乳动物 Fto 蛋白相同。用抗人 Fto 抗体进行 Western blot 和逆转录 PCR 研究表明，Fto 蛋白和基因在鸡的各种组织中广泛表达。用定量 PCR 检测发现，8 周龄鸡的肝脏和骨骼肌中 Fto mRNA 水平高于 4 周龄鸡。此外，饲养状态的改变导致肉鸡肝脏中 Fto mRNA 和 Fto 蛋白表达显著变化，但在骨骼肌和脂肪组织中没有变化。综上所述，我们的数据表明，Fto 可能在鸡的肝功能和能量代谢中发挥重要作用。
