Activating cardiac E2F1 induces up-regulation of pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 4 in mice on a short term of high fat feeding

A high fat diet (HFD) induces substantial cardiac metabolic alteration(s), but the initiating molecular events remain unclear. We assessed the early cardiac energy metabolic changes in C57/BJ mice fed a HFD for 10 days. Carbohydrate oxidation was markedly decreased in mice on a HFD, in which up-regulation of pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 4 (PDK4) was evident. Concurrently, E2F1, a transcription factor controlling PDK4 expression, was activated, as was cyclin D1, an upstream-molecule of E2F1, and eukaryotic initiation factor 4E (eIF4E), a modulator of cyclinD1 translation. Hence, HFD may initiate early cardiac metabolic alterations through the eIF4E/cyclin D1/E2F1/PDK4 axis. (C) 2012 Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Published by Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.