Transglutaminases and Obesity in Humans: Association of F13A1 to Adipocyte Hypertrophy and Adipose Tissue Immune Response

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences 2020-11, Vol.21 (21), p.8289
• Main Authors: Kaartinen, Mari T, Arora, Mansi, Heinonen, Sini, Rissanen, Aila, Kaprio, Jaakko, Pietiläinen, Kirsi H
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: adipocyte size; Adipocytes - immunology; Adipocytes - metabolism; Adipocytes - pathology; Adipose Tissue - immunology; Adipose Tissue - metabolism; Adipose Tissue - pathology; Adult; Body Composition - genetics; F131A; Factor XIII-A; Factor XIIIa - genetics; Factor XIIIa - metabolism; Female; Gene Expression Profiling; Genetic Association Studies; GTP-Binding Proteins - genetics; GTP-Binding Proteins - metabolism; Humans; Hypertrophy - genetics; Immunity - genetics; inflammation; Male; obesity; Obesity - genetics; Obesity - immunology; Obesity - metabolism; Obesity - pathology; Protein Glutamine gamma Glutamyltransferase 2; Transglutaminases - genetics; Transglutaminases - metabolism; Transglutaminases - physiology; Twins, Monozygotic - genetics; weight gain
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms21218289

Transglutaminases TG2 and FXIII-A have recently been linked to adipose tissue biology and obesity, however, human studies for TG family members in adipocytes have not been conducted. In this study, we investigated the association of family members to acquired weight gain in a rare set of monozygotic (MZ) twins discordant for body weight, i.e., heavy-lean twin pairs. We report that is the only family member showing significantly altered, higher expression in adipose tissue of the heavier twin. Our previous work linked adipocyte to increased weight, body fat mass, adipocyte size, and pro-inflammatory pathways. Here, we explored further the link of to adipocyte size in the MZ twins via a previously conducted TWA study that was further mined for genes that specifically associate to hypertrophic adipocytes. We report that differential expression of (ΔHeavy-Lean) associated with 47 genes which were linked via gene enrichment analysis to immune response, leucocyte and neutrophil activation, as well as cytokine response and signaling. Our work brings further support to the role of in the human adipose tissue pathology, suggesting a role in the cascade that links hypertrophic adipocytes with inflammation.