Differential Metabolic and Multi-tissue Transcriptomic Responses to Fructose Consumption among Genetically Diverse Mice

Abstract High fructose intake is a major risk for metabolic syndrome; however, its effects seem to vary across individuals. To determine main factors involved in the inter-individual responses to fructose, we fed inbred mouse strains C57BL/6J (B6), DBA/2J (DBA) and FVB/NJ (FVB) with fructose. DBA mice showed the highest susceptibility to gain adiposity and glucose intolerance. Elevated insulin was found in DBA and FVB mice, and cholesterol levels were uniquely elevated in B6 mice. The transcriptional profiles of liver, hypothalamus, and adipose tissues showed strain- and tissue-specific pathways altered by fructose, such as fatty acid and cholesterol pathways for B6 and PPAR signaling for DBA in liver, and oxidative phosphorylation for B6 and protein processing for DBA in hypothalamus. Using network modeling, we predicted potential strain-specific key regulators of fructose response such as Fgf21 (DBA) and Lss (B6) in liver, and validated strain-biased responses as well as the regulatory actions of Fgf21 and Lss in primary hepatocytes. Our findings support that fructose perturbs individualized tissue networks and pathways and associates with distinct features of metabolic dysfunctions across genetically diverse mice. Our results elucidate the molecular pathways and gene regulatory mechanisms underlying inter-individual variability in response to high fructose diet.