Research Perspective Volume 3, Issue 5 pp 548—554
Maternal diet, aging and diabetes meet at a chromatin loop
- 1 Metabolic Research Laboratories, Institute of Metabolic Science, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 OQQ, United Kingdom
- 2 National Institute for Health Research Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, Cambridge, United Kingdom
- 3 Metabolic Research Laboratories, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 0SW, United Kingdom
- 4 Centre for Trophoblast Research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EG, United Kingdom
Received: May 20, 2011 Accepted: May 25, 2011 Published: May 25, 2011
https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.100330How to Cite
Abstract
We have recently demonstrated that exposure to a suboptimal diet during early development leads to abnormal epigenetic regulation of a promoter-enhancer interaction at the gene encoding HNF-4α, a key transcription factor required for pancreatic β-cell differentiation and glucose homeostasis. In addition, our studies revealed that the suboptimal maternal diet amplifies the age-associated epigenetic silencing of this locus. In this research perspective we discuss these novel findings in the context of the growing list of epigenetic mechanisms by which the environment can affect gene activity and emphasize their implications for the understanding of the mechanistic basis of the development of type 2 diabetes with age.