Fig. 3.

Dietary iron influences adipose tissue function in a genetic background-dependent manner. A multidimensional scaling (MDS) plot based on the expression profiles of 8021 genes in white adipose tissue reveals context-specific clustering of control- and high iron-fed LG/J and SM/J mice (a). High iron-fed LG/J mice experience a 2.5-fold decrease in white adipose Lep expression (b), which coincides with a 4.5-fold decrease in serum leptin levels (c). High iron-fed SM/J mice do not experience a change in leptin expression, but have a 2-fold decrease in circulating leptin levels. Several key genes involved in adipose tissue function show gene X environment expression patterns in response to increased dietary iron (d). Panels a, b, d: n = 6–8 mice per strain X diet cohort. Fig. C: n = 13–17 mice per strain X diet cohort. Panels b, c, d – *p-value < 0.05, **p-value < 0.01, ***p-value < 0.001, assessed by ANOVA with Tukey’s Post Hoc Correction. N.S. – Not significant. Error bars represent +/− standard deviation