title: Identification of depot-specific human fat cell progenitors through distinct expression profiles and developmental gene patterns.
abstract: Anatomically separate fat depots differ in size, function, and contribution to pathological states, such as the metabolic syndrome. We isolated preadipocytes from different human fat depots to determine whether the basis for this variation is partly attributable to differences in inherent properties of fat cell progenitors. We found that genome-wide expression profiles of primary preadipocytes cultured in parallel from abdominal subcutaneous, mesenteric, and omental fat depots were distinct. Interestingly, visceral fat was not homogeneous. Preadipocytes from one of the two main visceral depots, mesenteric fat, had an expression profile closer to that of subcutaneous than omental preadipocytes, the other main visceral depot. Expression of genes that regulate early development, including homeotic genes, differed extensively among undifferentiated preadipocytes isolated from different fat depots. These profiles were confirmed by real-time PCR analysis of preadipocytes from additional lean and obese male and female subjects. We made preadipocyte strains from single abdominal subcutaneous and omental preadipocytes by expressing telomerase. Depot-specific developmental gene expression profiles persisted for 40 population doublings in these strains. Thus, human fat cell progenitors from different regions are effectively distinct, consistent with different fat depots being separate mini-organs.
authors.affiliation: Boston University Medical Center, 88 East Newton St., Boston, MA 02118, USA.
authors.forename: Tamara
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tchkonia
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lenburg
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Thomou
authors.forename: Nino
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Giorgadze
authors.forename: Garrett
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Frampton
authors.forename: Tamar
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pirtskhalava
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cartwright
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cartwright
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Flanagan
authors.forename: Iordanes
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Karagiannides
authors.forename: Norman
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gerry
authors.forename: R Armour
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Forse
authors.forename: Yourka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tchoukalova
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Jensen
authors.forename: Charalabos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pothoulakis
authors.forename: James L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Kirkland
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000378:metabolism*; D000328:Adult; D002461:Cell Line, Transformed; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling / Q000379:methods*; D050437:Genes, Developmental; D006801:Humans; D050152:Intra-Abdominal Fat / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D046228:Microarray Analysis; D009928:Organ Specificity; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D050151:Subcutaneous Fat / Q000378:metabolism; D019098:Telomerase / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: C509186:TERT protein, human; D019098:Telomerase