MicroRNA expression analysis in the liver of high fat diet-induced obese mice

A previous study indicated a causal link between certain miRNAs induced by obesity and the development of hepatic insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Here we provide accompanying data collected using Affymetrix GeneChip miRNAs microarrays to identify the changes in miRNAs expression in the liver of mice fed a high fat diet (HFD). Differentially expressed microRNA analyses in the liver of the HFD-fed mice revealed a range of upregulated (>1.5-fold) or downregulated (<0.5-fold) miRNAs. Among those upregulated miRNAs, in silico target analysis, such as TargetScan, PicTar, and miRWalk, identified miRNAs with the putative binding sites on the 3’UTRs of INSR and/or IRS-1. Interpretation of the data and further extensive insights into the implication of miRNAs, particularly miR-15b, in hepatic insulin resistance can be found in "Obesity-induced miR-15b is linked causally to the development of insulin resistance through the repression of the insulin receptor in hepatocytes." (W.M. Yang, H.J. Jeong, S.W. Park, W. Lee, 2015)[1].