Microarray analysis of CD9high and CD9low progenitors isolated from epididymal adipose from lean C3H/HeOuJ mice

Obesity-induced white adipose tissue (WAT) fibrosis is believed to accelerate WAT dysfunction. However, the cellular origin of WAT fibrosis remains unclear. We showed that adipocyte platelet-derived growth factor receptor-a-positive (PDGFRa+) progenitors adopt a fibrogenic phenotype in obese C3H/HeOuJ (C3H) mice prone to visceral WAT fibrosis. Two progenitor populations could be distinguished in the epididymal white adipose tissue (EpiWAT) of lean C3H mice, based on CD9 expression. In the fibrotic EpiWAT of obese C3H animals, the PDGFRa+CD9low subset is almost completely lost while the density of PDGFRa+CD9high progenitor markedly increase. To further gain insight into the functional differences between the CD9high and CD9low progenitor subsets, we performed transcriptomic profiling of FACS-sorted progenitor populations isolated from EpiWAT of lean C3H mice. EpiWAT from 3-month-old C3H mice was digested with collagenase. CD9high and CD9low progenitors from the stromal vascular fraction were FACS-sorted with CD45- CD31- Gp38+ PDGFRa+ CD9high and CD45- CD31- Gp38+ PDGFRa+ CD9high. Total RNA was amplified and labeled using Ovation Pico WTA System V2 (NuGEN) and Encore BiotinIL Module (NuGEN) kits according to the manufacturer’s protocol.