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Virginia Tech

Temporal examination of DNA methylation profile reprogramming in the promoter region of PGC-1α during the progression of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes mellitus in rodent models

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM), a metabolic disorder denoted by elevated blood glucose levels and insufficient insulin action, is growing in prevalence worldwide . Barriers to improving disease outcome resolve primarily around identifying and intervening during the preliminary stages of insulin resistance, a state clinically referred to as pre-diabetes. Emerging evidence suggests that mitochondrial dysfunction may underlie , and potentially precede, progressive insulin resistance, suggesting that biomarkers indicative of mitochondrial dysfunction could predict disease risk and status. In this study, we examined epigenetic modifications, in the form of DNA methylation, in the promoter region of peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma coactivator 1 alpha (PGC-1α), a known regulator of mitochondrial biogenesis. Following the initiation of a high fat diet, we observed significant genotypic (DNA methylation) and phenotypic (mitochondrial copy number) alterations in C57/BL6 rodent models. These changes preceded overt disease onset, as classified by clinically utilized indices, which included the homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), the homeostatic model assessment for β-cell dysfunction (HOMA- β), and the quantitative insulin-sensitivity check index (QUICKI). Our data indicate that methylation analysis may serve as an effective clinical parameter to use in conjunction with physiological criterion for the diagnosis of pre-diabetes and the assessment of T2DM disease risk, and adds to the growing body of work seeking to elucidate the role.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Doctor of Philosophy
Level thesis:degree_level
doctoral
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise
Department dc:contributor.department
Human Nutrition, Foods and Exercise
Grantor dc:publisher
Virginia Tech
Year dc:date.issued
2019

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Donnelly, Sarah Rebecca
Chairs dc:contributor.committeechair
  • Cheng, Zhiyong
  • Schmelz, Eva M.
Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
  • Hulver, Matthew W.
  • Almeida, Fabio A.
  • McMillan, Ryan P.

Subjects

dc:subject × 4

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • In Copyright

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Dc Identifier Other
vt_gsexam:21931
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/92592

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Virginia Tech
Base URL
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Donnelly, Sarah Rebecca. Temporal examination of DNA methylation profile reprogramming in the promoter region of PGC-1α during the progression of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes mellitus in rodent models. doctoral thesis, Virginia Tech, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/92592