Discipline: Computer Sciences and Information Management
Subcategory: Computer Science & Information Systems
Session: 2
Room: Exhibit Hall
Victoria Pellot Ortiz - University of Puerto Rico in Aguadilla
Co-Author(s): Mirian De Siqueira, Sicheng Zhang, Claudio VillanuevaInstitute for Quantitative and Computational Biosciences, UCLA
Adipose tissue is a plastic and heterogenous tissue involved in many metabolic processes such as insulin response, food intake, energy storage and thermogenesis. It is also involved in several diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity. There are three types of adipocytes: white, beige, and brown; white functions for energy storage while brown and beige, for thermogenesis. PPAR-y is a major transcription factor that is highly expressed in adipocytes. Therefore, we hypothesized that the most relevant pathways will be involved in the PPAR-y pathway and fat oxidation. Activation of PPAR-y by thiazolidinediones has a significant antidiabetic response; however, the detailed mechanism of action is still unclear. RNA-Seq analysis of brown, epidydimal and inguinal adipose tissue was performed on a genetic mouse model of obesity (type 2 diabetes) after treatment with the Pparg agonist, rosiglitazone. We observed a greater number of overlapping genes between brown and inguinal. For the downstream analysis, we focused on the overlapping up-regulated genes from the three tissues because it provides a common rosiglitazone-driven remodeling. We found that within this list of genes the oxidoreductase, carboxylic acid metabolism and Pparg signaling pathways were enriched. Recognizing the pathways with the highest relevance to different processes occurring within the adipose tissue will allow us to understand the mechanisms by which rosiglitazone and other TZDs work as anti-diabetic drugs and help combat obesity.
Funder Acknowledgement(s): UCLA QcB bio BIG summer program
Faculty Advisor: Nancy Cardona Cordero, nancy.cardona@upr.edu
Role: Worked with data collection, analysis and organization of the information from the experiment. Also did the Gene enrichment analysis of the genes present in each pathway.