GSE118762
Transcriptome-wide analysis of adipose circular RNAs reveals their dynamic regulation in obesity and functional role in adipogenesis
Non-coding RNAs are emerging as novel regulators in adipocyte differentiation and function. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a new class of non-coding transcripts generated across all eukaryotic tissues, but their function in adipose biology remains unknown. Here we perform deep sequencing of visceral and subcutaneous fat to discover thousands of adipose circRNAs, many of which are species-conserved, tissue-specific and dynamically regulated during adipogenesis and obesity. We identified circTshz2-1 and circArhgap5-2 as indispensable regulators of adipogenesis in vitro. To characterize the function of circRNAs in vivo, we injected adenoviral shRNA targeting circArhgap5-2 into mouse inguinal tissue and found that the expression of this circRNA was essential in maintaining the global adipocyte transcriptional programme involved in lipid biosynthesis and metabolism. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the pro-adipogenic function of circArhgap5-2 is conserved in human adipocytes. Our results provide important evidence that circRNAs serve as important regulators in adipocyte differentiation and metabolism. Overall design: Discovery of circular RNA in adipocytes using RNA-seq