Comparative transcriptomic and epigenomic analyses reveal new regulators of murine brown adipogenesis [Seq]

Increasing energy expenditure by promoting the thermogenic program in brown adipocytes is a promising approach to combat human obesity. To fully exploit the potential of this approach a comprehensive understanding of the gene regulatory network that controls both lineage commitment and differentiation of brown cells is necessary. Here, we systematically examine the transcriptomic and epigenomic transitions from mesenchymal stem cells to brown adipocytes (BA) and we perform a comparative analysis with differentiating white adipocytes (WA). We identify coding genes, lncRNA genes, and microRNA genes that are differentially regulated upon BA differentiation. In addition, we generate genome wide reference maps for several chromatin marks throughout brown adipogenesis. We identify putative (super-)enhancers, super-enhancers controlled genes in brown and white adipocytes, as well as target genes of the brown lineage-committing factor BMP7. Finally we show that overexpression and knockdown of four putative novel adipogenic regulators (the kinase Pim1, and the transcription factors Six1, Rreb1, and Sox13), indeed affects BA differentiation, suggesting an important role in brown adipogenesis.