Comment on: Jowett et al. (2010) Genetic Variation at the FTO Locus Influences RBL2 Gene Expression. Diabetes;59:726–732

Abstract

Jowett et al. (1) have examined the association of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs8050136 in intron 1 of the FTO (fat mass– and obesity-associated) gene with levels of transcripts up to 5 Mb in either direction of this SNP in lymphocytes from 1,240 individuals. This is an important study because it has been a matter of debate through which gene the obesity-associated SNPs in intron 1 of the FTO gene affect body weight regulation. The authors did not find an association of these SNPs with FTO gene expression but found a strong association with transcript levels of the RBL2 (retinoblastoma-like 2) gene located 270 kb upstream of FTO. …