Transcriptional responses of mouse adipocytes during insulin resistance

Insulin resistance is a sine qua non of Type 2 diabetes (T2D) and a frequent complication of multiple clinical conditions, including obesity, aging, and steroid use, among others. How such a panoply of insults can result in a common phenotype is incompletely understood. Furthermore, very little is known about the transcriptional and epigenetic basis of this disorder, despite evidence that such pathways are likely to play a fundamental role. Here, we compare cell autonomous models of insulin resistance induced by the cytokine tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF) or by the steroid dexamethasone (Dex) to construct detailed transcriptional profiles associated with cellular insulin resistance. Gene expression data from mouse adipocyte, with TNF or Dex treatments at different time points. Murine 3T3-L1 adipocytes were treated separately with dexamethasone (Dex; 20nM) or tumor necrosis factor-alpha. To comprehensively assess gene expression changes caused by Dex and TNF in a time-dependent manner, we profiled cells at early (2 hours), intermediate (24 hours), and late (6 days) points in the development of insulin resistance.