Whole transcriptome RNA-seq reveals key regulatory factors involved in type 2 diabetes pathology in peripheral fat of Asian Indians

The prevalence of Type 2 Diabetes has reached an epidemic proportion particularly in south Asian countries. We have earlier shown that the anatomical fat distribution, termed ‘thin fat phenotype’ in this population indeed plays a major role for their T2D-predisposition it is indeed the sick fat or adiposopathy, which is the root cause of metabolic syndrome and diabetes and affects both—peripheral, as well as visceral adipose tissue compartments. In present study, we have attempted to unravel the altered regulatory mechanisms at the level of transcription factors, and miRNAs those may likely accounts to T2D pathophysiology in femoral subcutaneous adipose tissue. We prioritized transcription factors and protein kinases as likely upstream regulators of obtained differentially expressed genes in this RNA-seq study. An inferred network of these upstream regulators was then derived and the role of TFs and miRNAs in T2D pathophysiology was explored. In conclusions, this RNS-Seq study finds that peripheral subcutaneous adipose tissue among Asian Indians show pathology characterized by altered lipid, glucose and protein metabolism, adipogenesis defect and inflammation. A network of regulatory transcription factors, protein kinases and microRNAs have been imputed which converge on the process of adipogenesis. As the majority of these genes also showed altered expression in diabetics and some of them are also circulatory, therefore they deserve further investigation for potential clinical diagnostic and therapeutic applications.