M. Igel et al., Hyperleptinemia and leptin receptor variant Asp600Asn in the obese, hyperinsulinemic KK mouse strain, J MOL ENDOC, 21(3), 1998, pp. 337-345
KK obese mice exhibit a multigenic syndrome of moderate obesity, hyperinsul
inemia and hyperglycemia. Here we show that the syndrome is accompanied by
a marked elevation of leptin protein in adipose tissue, as well as leptin l
evels in serum, which corresponds with the degree of obesity. The cDNA sequ
ence of leptin is normal in KK mice, whereas three nucleotide polymorphisms
were found in the cDNA of the leptin receptor, one of them resulting in ex
change of an aspartate residue for asparagine (Asp600Asn) in a highly conse
rved part of the second extracellular cytokine-receptor homology module. In
female (but not male) F2 mice of a C57BL/6J x KK intercross, the weight of
gonadal, retroperitoneal and mesenteric adipose tissue was positively corr
elated with the number of alleles inherited from the KK parental strain at
a microsatellite marker (D4Mitl 75) which maps close (0.7 centimorgan proxi
mal) to the leptin receptor gene. It is suggested that the Asp600Asn leptin
receptor variant contributes to the obesity syndrome in KK female mice, bu
t that its contribution is only a part of the multigenic syndrome.