近日英国科学家发现导致肥胖的基因。科学家们认为该基因在人体脂肪细胞内控制着其他基因，它的发现对于帮助治疗像心脏病、糖尿病等肥胖相关疾病是个突破。
科学家从800名女性或双胞胎体内提取肥胖细胞，并研究了肥胖细胞中的2万个基因。
科学家还找到一种名为KLF14的基因，这种基因被认为与二型糖尿病和胆固醇值有关。
科学家在《自然遗传学》杂志上发表了研究结果，该结果表明脂肪对导致如肥胖、心脏病和糖尿病等代谢性疾病起着很重要的作用。
医生称可以根据这个发现找到针对这种基因的药物。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推荐原文：
Nature Genetics DOI:10.1038/ng.833
Identification of an imprinted master trans regulator at the KLF14 locus related to multiple metabolic phenotypes
Kerrin S Small,Elin Grundberg,Alexandra C Nica, Gudmar Thorleifsson, Augustine Kong, Unnur Thorsteindottir, So-Youn Shin, Hannah B Richards
Genome-wide association studies have identified many genetic variants associated with complex traits. However, at only a minority of loci have the molecular mechanisms mediating these associations been characterized. In parallel, whereas cis regulatory patterns of gene expression have been extensively explored, the identification of trans regulatory effects in humans has attracted less attention. Here we show that the type 2 diabetes and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol–associated cis-acting expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) of the maternally expressed transcription factor KLF14 acts as a master trans regulator of adipose gene expression. Expression levels of genes regulated by this trans-eQTL are highly correlated with concurrently measured metabolic traits, and a subset of the trans-regulated genes harbor variants directly associated with metabolic phenotypes. This trans-eQTL network provides a mechanistic understanding of the effect of the KLF14 locus on metabolic disease risk and offers a potential model for other complex traits.
