Glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity define adipocyte transcriptional programs in human obesity.

Objective: Although debated, metabolic health characterizes 10-25% of obese individuals and reduces risk of developing life-threatening comorbidities. Adipose tissue is a recognized endocrine organ important for the maintenance of whole-body metabolic health. Adipocyte transcriptional signatures of healthy and unhealthy obesity are largely unknown.Methods: Here, we used a small cohort of highly characterized obese individuals discordant for metabolic health, characterized their adipocytes transcriptional signatures, and cross-referenced them to mouse phenotypic and human GWAs databases.Results and conclusions: Our study showed that glucose intolerance and insulin resistance co-operate to remodel adipocyte transcriptome. We also identified the Nuclear Export Mediator Factor (NEMF) and the Ectoderm-Neural Cortex 1 (ENC1) as novel potential targets in the management of metabolic health in human obesity. (C) 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier GmbH