Effects of black vinegar, Kurozu, on chromatin modifications and microRNA expression in the mouse liver | Functional Foods in Health and Disease - Online ISSN: 2160-3855; Print ISSN: 2378-7007 Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer Open Menu Functional Foods in Health and Disease - Online ISSN: 2160-3855; Print ISSN: 2378-7007 Home Food Science Publisher Functional Food Center Current Archives About About the Journal Aims and Scope Contact Editing Services Editorial Team Express Peer Review Graphical Abstract Journal Insights Privacy Statement Submissions Announcements Search Search Register Login Home / Archives / Vol. 14 No. 7 (2024): July 2024 / Research Articles Effects of black vinegar, Kurozu, on chromatin modifications and microRNA expression in the mouse liver Authors Yoshihiko Shibayama Akira Fujii Yuki Fujimoto Kensaku Hamada DOI: https://doi.org/10.31989/ffhd.v14i7.1383 Abstract Background: Kurozu is a traditional Japanese rice vinegar characterized by its brown color and that has been shown to improve hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and carbohydrate metabolism. Kurozu has also been suggested to confer health benefits by altering gene expression; however, the molecular basis is not yet understood. Objective: We previously reported that the intake of Kurozu increased the expression hepatic Sirt1 and microRNA (miR). These changes in gene expression may be attributed to histone modifications. Therefore, the current research explored the effects of supplementation with concentrated Kurozu (CK) on histone modifications in the liver. Methods: Over a period of 50 weeks, mice received a high-fat diet (HFD), HFD with CK, or a standard diet (SD). The study focused on the impact of CK on gene expression related to lipid metabolism in the liver. Results: A microarray analysis revealed that HFD increased the expression of the miR cluster located on chromosome 12, while this change was suppressed by CK. The chromatin modification region upstream of the miR cluster was analyzed using a Chip assay. HFD significantly increased the levels of dimethylation of histone H3 lysine 4 (H3K4me2) and monoacetylation of histone H3 lysine 27 (H3K27ac). HFD also increased H3K4me2 levels, and this change was inhibited by HFD with CK. MiR-127-5p and -134-5p, which are present in the miR cluster, inhibited MLXIPL, a transcription factor involved in synthesizing fatty acids from carbohydrates. Further experiments with human colon cancer cells demonstrated that miR-127-5p and -134-5p significantly knocked down MLXIPL. Conclusion: These results suggested that HFD affects miR expression levels by changing chromatin modification levels and that supplementation with CK suppressed HFD-induced increases in H3K4me2 levels. Furthermore, HFD upregulated the expression of miR-127-5p and -134-5p, which in turn suppressed MLXIPL. Keywords: chromatin modification, genomic imprinting, high-fat diet, Kurozu, microRNA, MLXIPL Downloads [Abstract] [Full Article] Published 2024-07-18 Issue Vol. 14 No. 7 (2024): July 2024 Section Research Articles License Copyright (c) 2024 Functional Foods in Health and Disease This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Authors retain the copyright of their articles and grant the Functional Food Center (FFC) and its journals the right of first publication under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, including commercial use, provided the original author(s) and source are properly credited. Authors may post and share their published work freely, provided that the original publication in this journal is acknowledged. By submitting to this journal, authors confirm that their manuscripts are original, not under consideration elsewhere, and that they hold the necessary rights to grant this license. The Functional Food Center encourages open scientific exchange and allows derivative and extended works, provided attribution to the original publication is maintained. About the Journal      Editing Services      Graphical Abstract      Journal Insights        Submissions        Editorial Team       Privacy Statement        Contact        Current        Archives   Open Journal Systems Hosting and Support by: OpenJournalSystems.com