Study finds different types of human white fat cells

They can develop different patterns of gene expression.Kahn is hopeful that “determining the mechanisms for these differences could lead to development of novel therapies for diabetes, obesity, and related conditions.” The paper now appears in the journal Nature Communications.Although previous research had identified multiple types of white fat cells in mice, this is one of the first to have done so in humans.The paper is the product of an unusual collaboration, says Kahn. “We think this research is the tip of the iceberg — if we study more samples of human fat, we will find more subtypes,” says Kahn.Single-cell RNA sequencing allows scientists to track the genetic development of single fat cells from their precursor, or “preadipocyte,” stage to their mature patterns of gene expression.For this project, the researchers used white subcutaneous fat cells from a biobank of specimens that scientists had previously collected from healthy individuals.Scientists at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard in Cambridge, MA, and the Joslin laboratory of Yu-Hua Tseng then performed single-cell RNA sequencing on these samples.Researchers performed an integrated analysis of both datasets using a novel mathematical technique that helped reveal the cells’ patterns of gene expression.