Novel gene-pathway identification during the development of human epicardial fat through early life

Studies in rodents and newborn humans, demonstrate the influence of brown adipose tissue (BAT) in temperature control and energy balance, which also has a critical role in the regulation of body weight. Here, we obtained samples of epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) from neonates, infants and children in order to compare the changes in gene expression with age We used microarrays in order to compare changes between gene to gene interactions by applying systems biology molecular analytical approaches. All participants had congenital heart disease (CHD) and the samples were taken at the time of surgery, immediately prior to the child undergoing cardio-pulmonary bypass. Thus, we determined the global gene expression signatures of a total of 46 paediatric patients: 11 neonates (6 to 24 days old), 28 infants (40 days to 1 year old) and 7 children (2 to 7 years old). To gain insight into how temperature control and energy balance may change with age in these fat depot, we identified functional modules of co-expressed genes using several different bioinformatics approaches, including WGCNA and gene ontology analysis.