Study of resident macrophages from adipose tissue of obese individuals through single-cell RNA sequencing

• Grant number: 21/13498-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: March 01, 2022
• End date: February 28, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Physiology - Physiology of Organs and Systems
• Principal Investigator: Licio Augusto Velloso
• Grantee: Tereza Cristina Minto Fontes Cal
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 13/07607-8 - OCRC - Obesity and Comorbidities Research Center, AP.CEPID

Abstract

Obesity is an epidemic disease and an important risk factor for cardiometabolic disorders. Although subcutaneous fat accumulation is generally considered neutral or beneficial, visceral fat accumulation is detrimental to the pathophysiology of obesity. Men and women have different patterns of fat accumulation, which contributes to differences in the risk of developing the disease between the sexes. Evidence points to the involvement of macrophages in the maintenance and functionality of the adipose tissue. In obesity, for instance, macrophages can represent about 50% of all immune cells in adipose tissue, contributing to maintain the low-grade inflammatory state that characterizes the disease. According to a simplified classification, adipose tissue monocytes/macrophages (ATMs) would be type M1 - classically activated - or type M2 -alternatively activated; however, the use of conventional markers (CD11b, CD11c and CD206) is not able to distinguish most ATMs which can be identified using single cell RNA sequencing. Considering this context, in the following proposal, we intend to carry out a high resolution characterization of the heterogeneity of ATMs in visceral versus subcutaneous adipose tissue of eutrophic and obese individuals, men and women, using single-cell RNA sequencing associated with multiparametric flow cytometry.