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. 2009;4(3):e4699.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0004699. Epub 2009 Mar 4.

MicroRNA expression in human omental and subcutaneous adipose tissue

Nora Klöting  1 , Susan Berthold, Peter Kovacs, Michael R Schön, Mathias Fasshauer, Karen Ruschke, Michael Stumvoll, Matthias Blüher
Affiliations

MicroRNA expression in human omental and subcutaneous adipose tissue

Nora Klöting et al. PLoS One. 2009.

Abstract

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs, that play important regulatory roles in a variety of biological processes, including development, differentiation, apoptosis, and metabolism. In mammals, miRNAs have been shown to modulate adipocyte differentiation. Therefore, we performed a global miRNA gene expression assay in different fat depots of overweight and obese individuals to investigate whether miRNA expression in human adipose tissue is fat-depot specific and associated with parameters of obesity and glucose metabolism. Paired samples of abdominal subcutaneous (SC) and intraabdominal omental adipose tissue were obtained from fifteen individuals with either normal glucose tolerance (NGT, n = 9) or newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes (T2D, n = 6). Expression of 155 miRNAs was carried out using the TaqMan(R)MicroRNA Assays Human Panel Early Access Kit (Applied Biosystems, Darmstadt, Germany). We identified expression of 106 (68%) miRNAs in human omental and SC adipose tissue. There was no miRNA exclusively expressed in either fat depot, suggesting common developmental origin of both fat depots. Sixteen miRNAs (4 in NGT, 12 in T2D group) showed a significant fat depot specific expression pattern. We identified significant correlations between the expression of miRNA-17-5p, -132, -99a, -134, 181a, -145, -197 and both adipose tissue morphology and key metabolic parameters, including visceral fat area, HbA(1c), fasting plasma glucose, and circulating leptin, adiponectin, interleukin-6. In conclusion, microRNA expression differences may contribute to intrinsic differences between omental and subcutaneous adipose tissue. In addition, human adipose tissue miRNA expression correlates with adipocyte phenotype, parameters of obesity and glucose metabolism.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Relationships between miRNA (miR-132 and miR-198) expression and morphology of adipose tissue.
(A) Typical example of omental adipose tissue morphology demonstrating lower macrophage infiltration in a patient with high miRNA-132 expression (miR-132 high) compared to a patient with low miRNA-132 expression (miR-132 low). Macrophage infiltration was assessed by immunostaining for CD68 as described in the methods. Upper slides, magnification 20×, lower slides, magnification 10× (B) Mean omental adipocyte diameter in a patient with high miRNA-198 expression (miR-198 high) compared to a patient with low miRNA-198 expression (miR-198 low). Aliquots of adipocytes were fixed with osmic acid and counted in triplicate using Multisizer III (Beckman-Coulter, Hamburg, Germany).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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