Characterization of visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue transcriptome and biological pathways in pregnant and non-pregnant women: Evidence for pregnancy-related regional-specific differences in adipose tissue

Shali Mazaki-Tovi, Edi Vaisbuch, Adi L. Tarca, Juan Pedro Kusanovic, Nandor Gabor Than, Tinnakorn Chaiworapongsa, Zhong Dong, Sonia S. Hassan, Roberto Romero

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

16 Scopus citations

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the transcriptome of visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissues between pregnant and non-pregnant women. Study Design: The transcriptome of paired visceral and abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissues from pregnant women at term and matched non-pregnant women (n = 11) was profiled with the Affymetrix Human Exon 1.0 ST array. Differential expression of selected genes was validated with the use of quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Results: Six hundred forty-four transcripts from 633 known genes were differentially expressed (false discovery rate (FDR) <0.1; fold-change >1.5), while 42 exons from 36 genes showed differential usage (difference in FIRMA scores >2 and FDR<0.1) between the visceral and subcutaneous fat of pregnant women. Fifty-six known genes were differentially expressed between pregnant and non-pregnant subcutaneous fat and three genes in the visceral fat. Enriched biological processes in the subcutaneous adipose tissue of pregnant women were mostly related to inflammation. Conclusion: The transcriptome of visceral and subcutaneous fat depots reveals pregnancy-related gene expression and splicing differences in both visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue. Furthermore, for the first time, alternative splicing in adipose tissue has been associated with regional differences and human parturition. This is an open access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere0143779
JournalPLoS ONE
Volume10
Issue number12
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Dec 2015
Externally publishedYes

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