Associate Editors-in-Chief: Daphne W. Bell, PhD, National Human Genome Research Institute, NIH Zhihua Jiang, PhD, Department of Animal Sciences, Washington State University

The central dogma of biology (DNA>>RNA>>Protein) has remained as an extremely useful scaffold to guide the study of molecular regulation of cellular metabolism. Molecular regulation of cellular metabolism has been pursued from an individual enzyme to a global assessment of protein function at the genomic (DNA), transcriptomic (RNA) and translation (Protein) levels. Details of a key role by inhibitory small RNAs and post-translational processing of cellular proteins on a whole cell/global basis are now just emerging. Below we emphasize the role of transcription factors (TF) in regulation of adipogenesis and lipogenesis. Additionally we have also focused on emerging additional TF that may also have hitherto unrecognized roles in adipogenesis and lipogenesis as compared to our present understanding. ...more

Obesity in humans has increased at an alarming rate over the past two decades and has become one of the leading public health problems worldwide. Studies have revealed a large number of genes/markers that are associated with obesity and/or obesity-related phenotypes, indicating an urgent need to develop a central database for helping the community understand the genetic complexity of obesity. In the present study, we collected a total of 1,736 obesity associated loci and created a freely available obesity database, including 1,515 protein-coding genes and 221 microRNAs (miRNAs) collected from four mammalian species: human, cattle, rat, and mouse. These loci were integrated as orthologs on comparative genomic views in human, cattle, and mouse. ...more

Special Issue on Adipogenesis: Genomics, Transcriptomics and Metabolomics. Editors: Mike Dodson and Zhihua Jiang, Department of Animal Sciences, Washington State University.

Journal of Genomics is an open access, peer-reviewed journal publishing papers of high quality in all aspects of genomics, proteomics, gene research and application. Types of articles include:

• Research paper
• Short research communication
• Review
• Letter or correspondence
• Commentary
• Database
• Software

Published articles:

Research Paper
Obesity Gene Atlas in Mammals
Tanja Kunej, Dasa Jevsinek Skok, Minja Zorc, Ana Ogrinc, Jennifer J. Michal, Milena Kovac, Zhihua Jiang
J. Genomics 2012; 1: 45-55. doi:10.7150/jgen.3996
[Abstract] [Full text] [PDF]

Review
Cell Supermarket: Adipose Tissue as a Source of Stem Cells
M.V. Dodson, S. Wei, M. Duarte, M. Du, Z. Jiang, G.J. Hausman, W.G. Bergen
J. Genomics 2012; 1: 39-44. doi:10.7150/jgen.3949
[Abstract] [Full text] [PDF]

Review
Developmental Programming of Fetal Skeletal Muscle and Adipose Tissue Development
Xu Yan, Mei-Jun Zhu, Michael V. Dodson, Min Du
J. Genomics 2012; 1: 29-38. doi:10.7150/jgen.3930
[Abstract] [Full text] [PDF]

Review
Adipogenic Transcriptome Profiling Using High Throughput Technologies
Urmila Basu, Josue Moura Romao, Le Luo Guan
J. Genomics 2012; 1: 22-28. doi:10.7150/jgen.3781
[Abstract] [Full text] [PDF]

Review
Topics in Transcriptional Control of Lipid Metabolism: from Transcription Factors to Gene-Promoter Polymorphisms
Werner G. Bergen, Derris D. Burnett
J. Genomics 2012; 1: 13-21. doi:10.7150/jgen.3741
[Abstract] [Full text] [PDF]

Review
Cellular and Molecular Implications of Mature Adipocyte Dedifferentiation
Shengjuan Wei, Marcio S. Duarte, Linsen Zan, Min Du, Zhihua Jiang, LeLuo Guan, Jie Chen, Gary J. Hausman, Michael V. Dodson
J. Genomics 2012; 1: 5-12. doi:10.7150/jgen.3769
[Abstract] [Full text] [PDF]

Editorial
Adipogenesis: It Is Not Just Lipid That Comprises Adipose Tissue
Michael V. Dodson, Zhihua Jiang, Min Du, Gary J. Hausman
J. Genomics 2012; 1: 1-4. doi:10.7150/jgen.3276
[Abstract] [Full text] [PDF]