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Updated: Sep 25, 2025
Mechanism of Regulation of Adipocyte Numbers in Adult Organisms Through Differentiation and Apoptosis Homeostasis
Published on: June 3, 2016
Transcriptome and fatty-acid signatures of adipocyte hypertrophy and its non-invasive MR-based characterization in
Julius Honecker1, Stefan Ruschke2, Claudine Seeliger1
1Else Kröner-Fresenius-Center for Nutritional Medicine, Chair of Nutritional Medicine, TUM School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Gregor-Mendel-Straße 2, 85354 Freising-Weihenstephan, Germany.
Background:
The adipocyte-hypertrophy associated remodeling of fat cell function is considered causal for the development of metabolic disorders. A better understanding of transcriptome and fatty acid (FA) related alterations with adipocyte hypertrophy combined with less-invasive strategies for the detection of the latter can help to increase the prognostic and diagnostic value of adipocyte size and FA composition as markers for metabolic disease.
Methods:
To clarify adipocyte-hypertrophy associated transcriptomic alterations, fat cell size was related to RNA-Seq data from white adipose tissue and size-separated adipocytes. The relationship between adipocyte size and adipose tissue FA composition as measured by GC-MS was investigated. MR spectroscopy (MRS) methods for clinical scanning were developed to characterize adipocyte size and FA composition in a fast and non-invasive manner.
Findings:
With enlarged adipocyte size, substantial transcriptomic alterations of genes involved in mitochondrial function and FA metabolism were observed. Investigations of these two mechanisms revealed a reciprocal relationship between adipocyte size and estimated thermogenic adipocyte content as well as depot-specific correlations of adipocyte size and FA composition. MRS on a clinical scanner was suitable for the in-parallel assessment of adipose morphology and FA composition.
Interpretation:
The current study provides a comprehensive overview of the adipocyte-hypertrophy associated transcriptomic and FA landscape in both subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissue. MRS represents a promising technique to translate the observed mechanistic, structural and functional changes in WAT with adipocyte hypertrophy into a clinical context for an improved phenotyping of WAT in the context of metabolic diseases.
Funding:
Competence network for obesity (FKZ 42201GI1128), ERC (No 677661, ProFatMRI; No 875488, FatVirtualBiopsy), Else Kröner-Fresenius-Foundation.
