Hormonal and nutritional regulation of alternative CD36 transcripts in rat liver – a role for growth hormone in alternative exon usage

Background CD36 is a multiligand receptor involved in various metabolic pathways, including cellular uptake of long-chain fatty acids. Defect function or expression of CD36 can result in dyslipidemia or insulin resistance. We have previously shown that CD36 expression is female-predominant in rat liver. In the present study, hormonal and nutritional regulation of hepatic CD36 expression was examined in male and female rats. Since alternative transcription start sites have been described in murine and human Cd36, we investigated whether alternative CD36 transcripts are differentially regulated in rat liver during these conditions.