Distinct Developmental Signatures of Human Abdominal and Gluteal Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue Depots

• Published in: The journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism Vol. 98; no. 1; pp. 362 - 371
• Main Authors: Karastergiou, Kalypso, Fried, Susan K., Xie, Hui, Lee, Mi-Jeong, Divoux, Adeline, Rosencrantz, Marcus A., Chang, R. Jeffrey, Smith, Steven R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bethesda, MD Oxford University Press 01.01.2013; Copyright by The Endocrine Society; Endocrine Society
• Subjects: Abdomen; Abdominal Fat - chemistry; Abdominal Fat - metabolism; Adipocytes; Adipose tissue; Adolescent; Adult; Biological and medical sciences; Body Composition - genetics; Body fat; Body mass index; Buttocks; DNA microarrays; Endocrine Research; Endocrinopathies; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; Genes; Hip; Homeobox; Humans; Iroquois protein; Male; Medical sciences; Metabolism; Molecular modelling; Obesity - genetics; Obesity - metabolism; Sex Characteristics; Subcutaneous Fat - chemistry; Subcutaneous Fat - metabolism; Transcriptome; Transcriptomes; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems; Vertebrates: endocrinology; Young Adult; Human; Obesity; Adipose tissue; Nutrition; Nutrition disorder; Development; Metabolic diseases; Subcutaneous tissue; Endocrinology; Nutritional status; Abdomen
• ISSN: 0021-972X; 1945-7197; 1945-7197
• DOI: 10.1210/jc.2012-2953

Context:Fat distribution differs in men and women, but in both sexes, a predominantly gluteal-femoral compared with abdominal (central) fat distribution is associated with lower metabolic risk. Differences in cellular characteristics and metabolic functions of these depots have been described, but the molecular mechanisms involved are not understood.Objective:Our objective was to identify depot- and sex-dependent differences in gene expression in human abdominal and gluteal sc adipose tissues.Design and Methods:Abdominal and gluteal adipose tissue aspirates were obtained from 14 premenopausal women [age 27.5 ± 7.0 yr, body mass index (BMI) 27.3 ± 6.2 kg/m2, and waist-to-hip ratio 0.82 ± 0.04] and 21 men (age 29.7±7.4 yr, BMI 27.2 ± 4.5 kg/m2, and waist-to-hip ratio 0.91 ± 0.07) and transcriptomes were analyzed using Illumina microarrays. Expression of selected genes was determined in isolated adipocytes and stromal vascular fractions from each depot, and in in vitro cultures before and after adipogenic differentiation.Results:A total of 284 genes were differentially expressed between the abdominal and gluteal depot, either specifically in males (n = 66) or females (n = 159) or in both sexes (n = 59). Most notably, gene ontology and pathway analysis identified homeobox genes (HOXA2, HOXA3, HOXA4, HOXA5, HOXA9, HOXB7, HOXB8, HOXC8, and IRX2) that were down-regulated in the gluteal depot in both sexes (P = 2 × 10−10). Conversely, HOXA10 was up-regulated in gluteal tissue and HOXC13 was detected exclusively in this depot. These differences were independent of BMI, were present in both adipocytes and stromal vascular fractions of adipose tissue, and were retained throughout in vitro differentiation.Conclusions:We conclude that developmentally programmed differences may contribute to the distinct phenotypic characteristics of peripheral fat.