Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and AstraZeneca have discovered that gene expression in adipose stem cells varies according to sex and type of adipose tissue in mice. The study , published in Nature Communications , shows that female adipose stem cells express higher levels of estrogen and progesterone receptors , while male cells express a gene that encodes for an enzyme that deactivates estrogens. According to Martin Uhrbom, Phd Student, at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge, the team "used single cell RNA sequencing and 3D rendering imaging to better characterize adipose stem cells in mice.
In addition, we have validated our findings using publicly available datasets." These findings may pave the way for future therapeutic interventions to increase the body's fat storage capacity and improve metabolism. "We have found that the gene expression of adipose stem cells in male and female mice varies depending on sex and type of adipose tissue.
We present a sexually dimorphic gene signature of adipose stem cells that can guide future studies in the field," says Uhrbom. "For example, female adipose stem cells express higher levels of the estrogen (Esr1) and progesterone (Pgr) receptors, whereas male cells express Sulfotransferase family 1E member 1 (Sult1e1), an enzyme that deactivates estrogens. Moreover, two genes associated with higher blood pressure, angiotensin (Agt) and Angiotensin converting enzyme (Ace), are enriched in male adipose stem cells.
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