scRNA-seq from abdominal and gluteofemoral subcutaneous adipose tissue derived stem cells (ADSC)

Recent studies using single cell (sc) RNAseq, identified subpopulations of adipose derived stem cells (ADSCs) within the stroma vascular fraction of human adipose tissue, potentially leading to functionally distinct adipocyte populations. We aimed to extend this analysis by exploring the heterogeneity of the ADSCs within abdominal (ABD) vs gluteofemoral (GF) subcutaneous fat depots of apple and pear shaped pre-menopausal women. Using full-length SMART-seq scRNAseq technology and a panel of known stem cell and preadipocyte markers for identification, we detected 7 subpopulations of cells in both ABD and GF-ADSCs. Two ADSC subpopulations enriched the GF depot were characterized by increased expression of genes involved in cholesterol and fatty acid metabolism. Two subpopulations enriched in the ABD depot had gene expression signatures associated with inflammation and fibrosis. The body shape comparison revealed that apple-shaped women have a unique fibrotic ADSC subpopulation in their ABD depot and a high proportion of predicted highly proliferative preadipocytes in their GF depot. We propose that these depot and body shape specific ADSC populations could contribute to the metabolic complications associated with the differential fat distribution. Transcriptome of ADSCs isolated from abdominal and gluteofemoral adipose tissue from apple and pear-shaped women were studied by scRNAseq