{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,11,3]],"date-time":"2026-11-03T04:03:10Z","timestamp":1793678590595,"version":"4.5.1"},"reference-count":50,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,4,21]],"date-time":"2024-04-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1713657600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Ontario Rett Syndrome Association (ORSA) Hope Fund","award":["202209PJT-486512-CIA-CDAA-111824"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["202209PJT-486512-CIA-CDAA-111824"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000024","name":"Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Project Grant","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["202209PJT-486512-CIA-CDAA-111824"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["202209PJT-486512-CIA-CDAA-111824"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000024","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Biomolecules"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Rett Syndrome (RTT) is a progressive X-linked neurodevelopmental disorder with no cure. RTT patients show disease-associated symptoms within 18 months of age that include developmental regression, progressive loss of useful hand movements, and breathing difficulties, along with neurological impairments, seizures, tremor, and mental disability. Rett Syndrome is also associated with metabolic abnormalities, and the anti-diabetic drug metformin is suggested to be a potential drug of choice with low or no side-effects. Previously, we showed that in vitro exposure of metformin in a human brain cell line induces MECP2E1 transcripts, the dominant isoform of the MECP2 gene in the brain, mutations in which causes RTT. Here, we report the molecular impact of metformin in mice. Protein analysis of specific brain regions in the male and female mice by immunoblotting indicated that metformin induces MeCP2 in the hippocampus, in a sex-dependent manner. Additional experiments confirm that the regulatory role of metformin on the MeCP2 target \u201cBDNF\u201d is brain region-dependent and sex-specific. Measurement of the ribosomal protein S6 (in both phosphorylated and unphosphorylated forms) confirms the sex-dependent role of metformin in the liver. Our results can help foster a better understanding of the molecular impact of metformin in different brain regions of male and female adult mice, while providing some insight towards its potential in therapeutic strategies for the treatment of Rett Syndrome.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/biom14040505","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,4,22]],"date-time":"2024-04-22T07:44:09Z","timestamp":1713771849000},"page":"505","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["Metformin Induces MeCP2 in the Hippocampus of Male Mice with Sex-Specific and Brain-Region-Dependent Molecular Impact"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Khatereh Saei","family":"Arezoumand","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biochemistry and Medical Genetics, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, Max Rady College of Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 0J9, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-8872-5542","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Chris-Tiann","family":"Roberts","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biochemistry and Medical Genetics, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, Max Rady College of Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 0J9, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3619-6116","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mojgan","family":"Rastegar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biochemistry and Medical Genetics, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, Max Rady College of Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 0J9, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,4,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"185","DOI":"10.1038\/13810","article-title":"Rett syndrome is caused by mutations in X-linked MECP2, encoding methyl-CpG-binding protein 2","volume":"23","author":"Amir","year":"1999","journal-title":"Nat. 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