Figure 6
A number of genes including those downstream of HIF-1 signaling pathway were up-regulated in the pancreas in response to HFD. The sorted loadings of pancreatic HFD gene eigenvector demonstrated that the exposure to HFD (A) upregulated the genes downstream of the KEGG HIF-1 signaling pathway (B) Most of these genes are related to increasing oxygen delivery including angiogenesis whereas some others are related to regulation of proliferation and anti-apoptosis. Genes related to angiogenesis other than those in the KEGG HIF-1 signaling pathway such as Ang were also examined, including Adipoq, Cav1 and Ptgis, and others from the Biological Processes of Gene Ontology (GO): Positive Regulation of Angiogenesis and Vasculogenesis. The top ranked gene Car3 in the HFD gene eigenvector was reported to be a target of HIF-1signaling pathway17. (C) Whether this kind of up-regulation attributed, at least in part, to the subsequent over-secretion of insulin from the pancreas that results in hyperinsulinemia is worth of future investigations.
