The epigenetic and transcriptional basis of a developmental transition from brown to white adipose tissue. Ovis aries

Brown and white adipose tissues are functionally and morphologically distinct. Theformer tissue has a primary role in maintaining thermogenesis in new born mammals while the latter acts as an energy storage vehicle that enhances survival when food is limiting. Both tissues are involved in maintaining energy homeostasis in adults and are strongly implicated in chronic metabolic diseases associated with obesity in humans. The perirenal adipose depot in sheep undergoes a relatively rapid transition from brown to white adipose tissue between late gestation and a few weeks after birth. However, little is known about this developmental process in terms of mechanism, changes in gene expression and epigenetic architecture. Citation: Tony Vuocolo, Aaron Statham, Denis C. Bauer, Sean McWilliam, Shalima Nair, Janna L Morrison, Song Zhang, Michael Buckley, Isabella C McMillen, Susan Clark, Ross L Tellam. "The epigenetic and transcriptional basis of the developmental transition from brown to white adipose tissue" ( submitted). Overall design: Whole genome bisulfite sequencing was performed upon PRAT from sheep fetuses at 132 days of gestation (132 d post conception (dpc); term =150±3d) and lambs 80 days after birth. Libraries were prepared using the “Whole-Genome Bisulfite sequencing for Methylation Analysis” protocol published by Illumina, and were sequenced one lane each on the HiSeq 2500. Three biological replicates for each developmental time point were analysed. The sequence reads that passed quality filters were mapped to sheep genome Ovis_aries Oar_v3.1.74.