9th January 2025 – by Aaruthy Suthahar
A new study has revealed how our genes influence fat tissue and its role in health. Researchers from TwinsUK and their collaborators have created AdipoExpress, the largest-ever analysis of gene activity in fat tissue, using samples from over 2,300 people, including our TwinsUK participants. The findings could help explain why some people are more likely to develop conditions like type 2 diabetes and obesity and point the way to new treatments.
What Makes Fat So Important?
Fat, or adipose tissue, isn’t just for storing energy. It’s a busy organ that produces hormones, controls metabolism, and even helps manage inflammation. When fat doesn’t work properly, it can lead to serious health problems like diabetes and heart disease. This study focused on subcutaneous fat (the kind found under the skin) because it’s easier to collect samples from volunteers.
Key Findings
- Mapping the Genetics of Fat: The researchers identified nearly 35,000 genetic signals that influence how genes work in fat tissue. This is more than twice as many as found in previous studies and shows how complex the genetic control of fat really is.
- New Genetic Insights: Many of these signals weren’t in the main gene control regions (called promoters). Instead, they were further away, acting more like distant dimmer switches. These signals often fine-tune the activity level of a gene rather than simply turning it on or off. Despite their subtle effects, they frequently influence genes that play important roles in health.
- Linking Genes to Diseases: By combining their findings with data from previous studies on health and disease (called genome-wide association studies or GWAS), the researchers identified over 1,800 genes that might affect traits like body fat distribution and diabetes risk. Including these additional genetic signals uncovered 46% more connections to disease than looking at primary signals alone.
Why This Matters
The researchers say this work highlights the importance of studying fat tissue to understand health and disease. Combining genetic studies like GWAS with RNA analysis – studying which genes are turned on or off in tissues- helps pinpoint the genes and tissues involved in diseases.
Adipose tissue plays a key role in managing metabolic health, and this study offers the largest map yet of how genetics controls its function. This has led to new discoveries about type 2 diabetes and how body fat is distributed – discoveries that weren’t possible before.
The researchers also point out how genetic control of gene activity in adipose tissue underlies how men and women store fat differently, and this can affect health in distinct ways. Our upcoming study, AdiProPlus, will specifically look at these differences where we will collect fat biopsies with a new focus on both male and female volunteers.
Next Steps
The findings from AdipoExpress are now publicly available here, allowing scientists around the world to use the data for further research. This open approach will speed up discoveries and help uncover how our genes shape our health.
