Transcriptomic and MicroRNA Analyses Identify Gene Networks Regulated by Eicosapentaenoic Acid in Brown Adipose Tissue from Diet-Induced Obese Mice

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) dissipates chemical energy as heat and protects against obesity by increasing energy expenditure. In recent years, interest in BAT as an anti-obesity target has increased. However mechanisms mediating regulation of BAT by dietary factors remain largely unexplored at the mechanistic level. Hence, we used RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) and microRNA (miRNA) profiling, as powerful methods to identify novel regulators of BAT transcriptome. These techniques were applied on BAT from C57BL/6J mice fed either a high fat diet (HF, 45% kcal fat) or HF diet supplemented with EPA (HF-EPA containing 36g EPA/kg diet) for 11 weeks, to characterize differential gene and miRNA expression between HF and HF-EPA fed mice. RNA sequencing was performed using Illumina Hi-Seq and pathway analyses were performed using Ingenuity Pathway Analysis software (IPA®). We identified 831 genes that were differentially expressed (95% confidence and p<0.05) in BAT from HF compared to HF-EPA fed mice.