Obesity-related differential gene expression in the visceral adipose tissue.
BACKGROUND
This study investigates the expression patterns in human adipose tissue, and identifies genes that may be involved in the abnormal energy homeostasis.


METHODS
Subjects were prospectively recruited from morbidly obese patients undergoing bariatric surgery and from non-obese organ donors. Extensive clinical data and visceral fat specimens were obtained from each subject at the time of surgery. A group of 50 obese patients and 9 non-obese controls were selected for further study. Two custom two-color cDNA microarrays were produced with 40,173 human individual cDNA clones. Microarray experiments were performed for each sample, and a selected group of gene expression values were confirmed with real-time RT-PCR.


RESULTS
A comparison of gene expression profiles from obese and non-obese patients identified 1,208 genes with statistically significant differential expression between the 2 groups. Most prominent among these genes are multiple glycolysis enzyme encoding genes; others are involved in oxysterol biosynthesis and signaling, or are ATP-binding transporters and solute carriers.


CONCLUSIONS
Differential gene expression in the adipose tissue of morbidly obese patients includes genes related to lipid and glucose metabolism, membrane transport, and genes promoting the cell cycle. These findings are a first step toward clarifying the molecular pathogenesis of obesity and identifying potential targets for therapeutic intervention.
Center for the Study of Genomics in Liver Diseases, Molecular and Microbiology Department, George Mason University, VA, USA.
Ancha
A
Baranova
Rochelle
R
Collantes
Shobha J
SJ
Gowder
Hazem
H
Elariny
Karen
K
Schlauch
Abraham
A
Younoszai
Steve
S
King
Manpreet
M
Randhawa
Sitapati
S
Pusulury
Tariq
T
Alsheddi
Janus P
JP
Ong
Lisa M
LM
Martin
Vikas
V
Chandhoke
Zobair M
ZM
Younossi
D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000503:physiopathology*; D000328:Adult; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000502:physiology*; D006019:Glycolysis / Q000235:genetics; D006706:Homeostasis / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009767:Obesity, Morbid / Q000235:genetics*; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D011446:Prospective Studies