title: Distinct developmental signatures of human abdominal and gluteal subcutaneous adipose tissue depots.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  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.
  
  
  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/m(2), and waist-to-hip ratio 0.82 ± 0.04] and 21 men (age 29.7±7.4 yr, BMI 27.2 ± 4.5 kg/m(2), 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.
authors.affiliation: Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Nutrition, Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts 02118, USA.
authors.forename: Kalypso
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Karastergiou
authors.forename: Susan K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Fried
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Mi-Jeong
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Adeline
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Divoux
authors.forename: Marcus A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Rosencrantz
authors.forename: R Jeffrey
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Steven R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D050153:Abdominal Fat / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001823:Body Composition / Q000235:genetics; D002081:Buttocks; D005260:Female; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D050151:Subcutaneous Fat / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D059467:Transcriptome; D055815:Young Adult