Vijitha Puviindran

TL;DR: It is shown that the obesity-associated noncoding sequences within FTO are functionally connected, at megabase distances, with the homeobox gene IRX3, and long-range enhancers within this region recapitulate aspects of IRx3 expression, suggesting that the Obesity-associated interval belongs to the regulatory landscape ofIRX3.

TL;DR: The data indicate that the FTO allele associated with obesity represses mitochondrial thermogenesis in adipocyte precursor cells in a tissue-autonomous manner, and points to a pathway for adipocyte thermogenesis regulation involving ARID5B, rs1421085, IRX3, and IRX5, which, when manipulated, had pronounced pro-obesity and anti-ob obesity effects.

TL;DR: A role for hedgehog signaling in white/brown adipocyte determination is identified and in vivo RNAi-based scanning of the Drosophila genome is linked to regulation of adipocyte cell fate in mammals.

TL;DR: It is shown that the kinesin protein Kif7 is a critical regulator of Hh signaling in mice, implying a greater commonality between the Drosophila and mammalian system than the prevailing view suggests.

TL;DR: It is shown that Iroquois homeobox gene 3 (Irx3) is critical for efficient conduction in this specialized tissue by antithetically regulating two gap junction–forming connexins (Cxs).