Single-cell RNA sequencing (sc RNAseq) of white adipose tissue of aged mice

Aging and obesity are associated with pro-inflammatory changes in adipose tissue. Overlapping mechanisms, such as the infiltration of inflammatory macrophages and T cells into visceral adipose tissue, have been implicated in contributing inflammation. However, a comparative analysis from both states is needed to identify distinct regulatory targets. Here, we performed single-cell RNA sequencing of stromal vascular fractions (SVF) isolated from gonadal white adipose tissue (gWAT) of young mice fed a normal or a high-fat diet, and aged mice fed a normal diet. Our analysis revealed that physiological aging, more so than high-fat diet induced obesity, was associated with accumulation of phenotypically distinct CD8 T cells resembling virtual memory (VM) CD8 T cells.