Human subcutaneous and visceral adipocyte atlases uncover classical and nonclassical adipocytes and depot-specific patterns
Cite
Lazarescu, O., Ziv-Agam, M., Haim, Y., Hekselman, I., Jubran, J., Shneyour, A., Muallem, H., Zemer, A., Rosengarten-Levin, M., Kitsberg, D. and Levin, L., 2025. Human subcutaneous and visceral adipocyte atlases uncover classical and nonclassical adipocytes and depot-specific patterns. Nature Genetics, pp.1-14. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-024-02048-3
Abstract
Human adipose depots are functionally distinct. Yet, recent single-nucleus RNA sequencing (snRNA-seq) analyses largely uncovered overlapping or similar cell-type landscapes. We hypothesized that adipocyte subtypes, differentiation trajectories and/or intercellular communication patterns could illuminate this depot similarity–difference gap. For this, we performed snRNA-seq of human subcutaneous or visceral adipose tissues (five or ten samples, respectively). Of 27,665 adipocyte nuclei in both depots, most were ‘classical’, namely enriched in lipid metabolism pathways. However, we also observed ‘nonclassical’ adipocyte subtypes, enriched in immune-related, extracellular matrix deposition (fibrosis), vascularization or angiogenesis or ribosomal and mitochondrial processes. Pseudo-temporal analysis showed a developmental trajectory from adipose progenitor cells to classical adipocytes via nonclassical adipocytes, suggesting that the classical state stems from loss, rather than gain, of specialized functions. Last, intercellular communication routes were consistent with the different inflammatory tone of the two depots. Jointly, these findings provide a high-resolution view into the contribution of cellular composition, differentiation and intercellular communication patterns to human fat depot differences.
Datasets
1. snRNA-seq of human subcutaneous adipose tissue - all cells
ExploreReference genome
Subject ID
Donor living at sample collection
Sample ID
Sample preservation method
Sample collection method
Donor BMI at collection
Suspension derivation process
Suspension dissociation reagent
Library ID
Sequencing platform
Cell subtype
Reported diseases
Seurat clusters
Cell type
Assay
Disease
Sex
Tissue
Ethnicity
Age
GRCh38, GENCODE 3237,879 cells 67adc4ed-10af-4d25-9530-9a47028bffc89,173 cells e2a7f710-b486-44e8-8d2e-39f858c862908,336 cells a13dd2f8-e801-4c2b-9392-f8ffa464e7988,077 cells b5edb514-271a-434a-ba7f-10b32743eb917,008 cells 08d41e84-60b7-4bc6-90e1-bfabd58b0be15,285 cells flash-freezing37,879 cells mechanical dissociation,detergent solubilization37,879 cells 0.1% Tween-2037,879 cells 3f80bc54-8079-4480-938c-c6b8b7c3c6569,173 cells dd85c8c5-c10d-4c7d-bd03-d26b254e49888,336 cells 6682b3d0-fe73-419a-bdc5-5ac3ed6448888,077 cells 7af9e567-3e29-4c0f-b062-60f2e883ef0d7,008 cells 6fad1649-ade7-4a30-b3dc-fc0842a238645,285 cells Illumina NovaSeq 6000 (EFO:0008637)28,706 cells Illumina NextSeq 500 (EFO:0009173)9,173 cells Endothelial (lymph.)184 cells diabetes mellitus7,008 cells Endothelial (lymph.)184 cells 10x 3' v3, single-nucleus37,879 cells subcutaneous adipose tissue37,879 cells Jewish Israeli21,698 cells 2. snRNA-seq of human visceral adipose tissue - all cells
ExploreReference genome
Alignment software
Subject ID
Donor living at sample collection
Smoking status
Sample ID
Sample preservation method
Sample collection method
Donor BMI at collection
Sample collection year
Suspension derivation process
Suspension dissociation reagent
Library ID
Sample source
Library ID - Repository
Cell subtype
Reported disease
Seurat clusters
Cell type
Assay
Disease
Sex
Tissue
Ethnicity
Age
Age group
Cell Ranger count v6.0.183,731 cells 7c60d225-f306-4fa2-a322-095c5697893f11,712 cells 7f6076cf-9cd3-43ce-81fc-17e13f27bd8511,485 cells 6c50274d-bb00-46a1-9908-56ad3cea80e210,146 cells 4b230ffb-6618-4efa-b174-b97b68f8f04f9,829 cells 767a0d10-3857-4cf3-8503-7e7bcf8433278,768 cells b5180dfd-a19f-4b16-bd9e-a480202ab0118,194 cells 2888c366-2fce-4100-82dd-d09f6939d36d7,898 cells 7743aab2-d4b0-4bd1-8d44-48559ff90f877,126 cells fbba1735-4c50-4cda-83e3-6e89cbf754634,986 cells 80578aa0-0580-44fe-a6ec-e27b4d470c3f3,587 cells frozen in liquid nitrogen83,731 cells surgical resection83,731 cells mechanical dissociation,detergent solubilization83,731 cells 0.1% Tween-2083,731 cells 3f994cc8-560c-4311-8cd7-6893e540de1711,712 cells 2c3cf8c1-1cff-4d9d-8f3c-f1a5b35e591f11,485 cells 9f60a7c7-6725-4fd7-bc30-6fd7cf5fd1af10,146 cells 12c60bd7-8d70-4e45-9f42-7e9623da6d769,829 cells df1ff128-a34e-4fc4-9398-07bfeb794e218,768 cells 9ed6a522-8d27-4828-948f-4a68d83580618,194 cells 4389c730-6758-4ee0-8d92-1a1bb8a0d0377,898 cells f3ed10e6-5f33-4256-8819-33cb9ce0b8917,126 cells 5a57c094-718c-42d0-84a4-c95e05bb38984,986 cells 4312a72b-2f4d-4300-9202-d79884576a8e3,587 cells Ben-Gurion University of the Negev83,731 cells Pre_mesothelial 223,894 cells Endothelial (lymph.)1,706 cells Pre_mesothelial 1493 cells diabetes mellitus18,597 cells Pre-mesothelial24,387 cells Endothelial (lymph.)1,706 cells 10x 3' v3, single-nucleus83,731 cells Jewish Israeli46,206 cells 3. snRNA-seq of human subcutaneous adipose tissue - adipocytes
ExploreSeurat clusters
Subject ID
Sample ID
Sample preservation method
Sample collection method
Suspension derivation process
Suspension dissociation reagent
Cell subtype
Reported diseases
Cell type
Assay
Disease
Sex
Tissue
Ethnicity
Age
67adc4ed-10af-4d25-9530-9a47028bffc83,333 cells e2a7f710-b486-44e8-8d2e-39f858c862902,738 cells b5edb514-271a-434a-ba7f-10b32743eb912,530 cells a13dd2f8-e801-4c2b-9392-f8ffa464e7981,858 cells 08d41e84-60b7-4bc6-90e1-bfabd58b0be11,746 cells flash-freezing12,205 cells mechanical dissociation,detergent solubilization12,205 cells 0.1% Tween-2012,205 cells diabetes mellitus2,530 cells 10x 3' v3, single-nucleus12,205 cells subcutaneous adipose tissue12,205 cells Jewish Israeli6,342 cells 4. snRNA-seq of human visceral adipose tissue - adipocytes
ExploreSeurat clusters
Subject ID
Smoking status
Sample ID
Sample preservation method
Sample collection method
Donor BMI at collection
Sample collection year
Suspension derivation process
Suspension dissociation reagent
Sample source
Cell subtype
Reported disease
Cell type
Assay
Disease
Sex
Tissue
Ethnicity
Age
Age group
4b230ffb-6618-4efa-b174-b97b68f8f04f2,580 cells 6c50274d-bb00-46a1-9908-56ad3cea80e22,240 cells 2888c366-2fce-4100-82dd-d09f6939d36d1,732 cells b5180dfd-a19f-4b16-bd9e-a480202ab0111,597 cells 767a0d10-3857-4cf3-8503-7e7bcf8433271,552 cells 7f6076cf-9cd3-43ce-81fc-17e13f27bd851,512 cells 7c60d225-f306-4fa2-a322-095c5697893f1,451 cells 7743aab2-d4b0-4bd1-8d44-48559ff90f871,197 cells fbba1735-4c50-4cda-83e3-6e89cbf754631,069 cells 80578aa0-0580-44fe-a6ec-e27b4d470c3f530 cells frozen in liquid nitrogen15,460 cells surgical resection15,460 cells mechanical dissociation,detergent solubilization15,460 cells 0.1% Tween-2015,460 cells Ben-Gurion University of the Negev15,460 cells diabetes mellitus4,132 cells 10x 3' v3, single-nucleus15,460 cells Jewish Israeli8,209 cells 5. snRNA-seq of human adipose tissue - adipocytes from subcutaneous and visceral adipose integrated
ExploreCell type
Seurat clusters
Subject ID
Donor living at sample collection
Smoking status
Sample ID
Sample preservation method
Sample collection method
Donor BMI at collection
Sample collection year
Suspension derivation process
Suspension dissociation reagent
Sample source
Cell subtype
Reported disease
Assay
Disease
Sex
Tissue
Ethnicity
Age
Age group
67adc4ed-10af-4d25-9530-9a47028bffc83,333 cells e2a7f710-b486-44e8-8d2e-39f858c862902,738 cells 4b230ffb-6618-4efa-b174-b97b68f8f04f2,580 cells b5edb514-271a-434a-ba7f-10b32743eb912,530 cells 6c50274d-bb00-46a1-9908-56ad3cea80e22,240 cells a13dd2f8-e801-4c2b-9392-f8ffa464e7981,858 cells 08d41e84-60b7-4bc6-90e1-bfabd58b0be11,746 cells 2888c366-2fce-4100-82dd-d09f6939d36d1,732 cells b5180dfd-a19f-4b16-bd9e-a480202ab0111,597 cells 767a0d10-3857-4cf3-8503-7e7bcf8433271,552 cells 7f6076cf-9cd3-43ce-81fc-17e13f27bd851,512 cells 7c60d225-f306-4fa2-a322-095c5697893f1,451 cells 7743aab2-d4b0-4bd1-8d44-48559ff90f871,197 cells fbba1735-4c50-4cda-83e3-6e89cbf754631,069 cells 80578aa0-0580-44fe-a6ec-e27b4d470c3f530 cells frozen in liquid nitrogen15,460 cells flash-freezing12,205 cells surgical resection15,460 cells mechanical dissociation,detergent solubilization27,665 cells 0.1% Tween-2027,665 cells Ben-Gurion University of the Negev15,460 cells diabetes mellitus6,662 cells 10x 3' v3, single-nucleus27,665 cells subcutaneous adipose tissue12,205 cells Jewish Israeli14,551 cells 6. snRNA-seq of human subcutaneous adipose tissue - adipocytes integrated with emont et al
ExploreReference genome
Subject ID
Age
Donor living at sample collection
Sample ID
Sample preservation method
Sample collection method
Sample source
Donor BMI at collection
Suspension derivation process
Suspension dissociation reagent
Library ID
Library starting quantity
Sequencing platform
Cell type
Reported disease
Seurat clusters
Data source
Tissue source
Cell cycle
Cell subtype
Assay
Disease
Sex
Tissue
Ethnicity
Age group
GRCh38, GENCODE 2714,396 cells GRCh38, GENCODE 3212,205 cells f13ae508-b0f5-45d8-be30-53b2e3547a654,560 cells 67adc4ed-10af-4d25-9530-9a47028bffc83,333 cells e2a7f710-b486-44e8-8d2e-39f858c862902,738 cells b5edb514-271a-434a-ba7f-10b32743eb912,530 cells a13dd2f8-e801-4c2b-9392-f8ffa464e7981,858 cells 08d41e84-60b7-4bc6-90e1-bfabd58b0be11,746 cells 6abc9f14-b1e9-4813-babc-f67f5ba58efa1,502 cells 31c311e9-87aa-412f-8b0d-4e317e383f2a1,385 cells 0e6168ba-9867-4e0c-a486-5cd297163f8f1,369 cells c6726f4c-2918-4bc5-a46e-928246aed2511,237 cells 6d160093-7357-449b-b72b-3ee07633924e1,138 cells f5dc9bb9-43d6-4ef4-a763-aa71e366ac7e1,004 cells 6ea3dcac-bb9b-4758-9caf-23465a134195647 cells ee9dfae4-10a7-45a7-85b2-fdbccc699580591 cells a806741e-0e36-4d1a-9fce-95406839f9aa355 cells 725c6632-9780-4710-b217-ff19322d1dcb297 cells e9beba0d-f54c-48b7-bb45-4da48d5f5888207 cells d5991667-a2a2-4097-b482-a30a8d1f26a8104 cells flash-freezing26,601 cells Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center8,659 cells University of Pittsburgh Medical Center5,737 cells mechanical dissociation,detergent solubilization26,601 cells 0.1% Tween-2012,205 cells 24ca566a-3247-4e04-948d-4029e2a6b7c54,560 cells 3f80bc54-8079-4480-938c-c6b8b7c3c6563,333 cells dd85c8c5-c10d-4c7d-bd03-d26b254e49882,738 cells 7af9e567-3e29-4c0f-b062-60f2e883ef0d2,530 cells 6682b3d0-fe73-419a-bdc5-5ac3ed6448881,858 cells 6fad1649-ade7-4a30-b3dc-fc0842a238641,746 cells 71318191-4a82-4b17-accd-73b1312ccb4e1,502 cells 4f9e5ac1-ff29-438d-857f-989f586717671,385 cells 2963ee30-00a1-4b6e-9d5c-c405cc22d3aa1,369 cells 61571a06-5842-405d-a6d6-8af23f4566a71,237 cells bb92d4c9-96c3-4b5f-94c8-2584ce6830e51,138 cells e2966006-b33d-4c42-8580-85d82fb60dcd1,004 cells de74eab8-891d-4c0e-9ded-c98021331eab647 cells 95a23d27-e7c7-4b25-be56-a5ff3b687453591 cells f5e826cb-b308-45ed-8bef-77e7e3eef519355 cells 2622b1ea-1336-4631-9129-5e0c4c8d4bf3297 cells 89382240-1f92-498c-bf0d-37d94f2fda81207 cells c43256a2-8837-41dd-b32a-2d00fd95f075104 cells 10,000-16,500 nuclei14,396 cells Illumina NovaSeq 6000 (EFO:0008637)8,872 cells Illumina NextSeq 500 (EFO:0009173)3,333 cells diabetes mellitus2,530 cells mid-right abdomen1,502 cells 10x 3' v3, single-nucleus26,601 cells subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue14,396 cells subcutaneous adipose tissue12,205 cells Jewish Israeli6,342 cells Hispanic or Latin American4,560 cells African American1,833 cells 7. snRNA-seq of human visceral adipose tissue - adipocytes integrated with emont et al
ExploreReference genome
Alignment software
Subject ID
Age
Donor living at sample collection
Smoking status
Sample ID
Sample preservation method
Sample collection method
Study source
Donor BMI at collection
Sample collection year
Suspension derivation process
Suspension dissociation reagent
Library ID
Cell number loaded
Sample source
Library ID - repository
Cell type
Reported disease
Seurat clusters
Data source
Tissue source
Cell cycle
Cell subtype
Assay
Disease
Sex
Tissue
Ethnicity
Age group
Cell Ranger count v6.0.115,460 cells Drop-Seq tools v2.3.0,STAR v2.7.311,475 cells f011bc53-ea15-4788-be27-caa084c5a4302,806 cells 4b230ffb-6618-4efa-b174-b97b68f8f04f2,580 cells 6c50274d-bb00-46a1-9908-56ad3cea80e22,240 cells 2888c366-2fce-4100-82dd-d09f6939d36d1,732 cells f581e2bf-d201-4bb8-bfbf-7b72c669d4b01,619 cells b5180dfd-a19f-4b16-bd9e-a480202ab0111,597 cells efe16d3f-9c4a-4b02-bf76-9880f11245e41,571 cells 767a0d10-3857-4cf3-8503-7e7bcf8433271,552 cells 7f6076cf-9cd3-43ce-81fc-17e13f27bd851,512 cells 7c60d225-f306-4fa2-a322-095c5697893f1,451 cells 408edc42-9253-4e08-98d0-88d15420ff9b1,321 cells 77b46259-ad3c-40c6-97c1-b1219b257ff21,215 cells 7743aab2-d4b0-4bd1-8d44-48559ff90f871,197 cells fbba1735-4c50-4cda-83e3-6e89cbf754631,069 cells 648cb8fa-c1d6-466c-b559-4c5a1f61f159939 cells 1e38fb29-b2dd-41f7-9598-7f75b7ccc384786 cells 997c0d4a-a76a-4bbd-be78-33a1a70a85fb769 cells 80578aa0-0580-44fe-a6ec-e27b4d470c3f530 cells ccafcc24-f50f-4b94-93f2-8472169a35c7377 cells f6585b80-c27b-481e-a719-943e4600a1ed72 cells frozen in liquid nitrogen26,935 cells surgical resection26,935 cells Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center6,222 cells University of Pittsburgh Medical Center5,253 cells mechanical dissociation,detergent solubilization26,935 cells 0.1% Tween-2015,460 cells 96abfd20-9b37-4a38-ab08-6b563466f1442,806 cells 12c60bd7-8d70-4e45-9f42-7e9623da6d762,580 cells 9f60a7c7-6725-4fd7-bc30-6fd7cf5fd1af2,240 cells 4389c730-6758-4ee0-8d92-1a1bb8a0d0371,732 cells a9171c6a-e6e1-448b-9490-83da8b7586711,619 cells 9ed6a522-8d27-4828-948f-4a68d83580611,597 cells df1ff128-a34e-4fc4-9398-07bfeb794e211,552 cells 2c3cf8c1-1cff-4d9d-8f3c-f1a5b35e591f1,512 cells 3f994cc8-560c-4311-8cd7-6893e540de171,451 cells 854a3225-84a1-4563-b5af-d89862cf2c781,321 cells 005b747d-5e5a-482f-a9db-9ec180000a891,215 cells f3ed10e6-5f33-4256-8819-33cb9ce0b8911,197 cells 5a57c094-718c-42d0-84a4-c95e05bb38981,069 cells 90fc2f47-462b-49df-91db-cc574be6e4ba939 cells 9dc55ed0-8c70-4b28-9fb6-cafda5ff0357888 cells 48223038-e656-492d-9c84-5b7519319bc4786 cells 872e9105-8576-4b9b-9220-00ddc04049ec769 cells 4a8bc228-f8eb-41c5-acbf-b6070225b164683 cells 4312a72b-2f4d-4300-9202-d79884576a8e530 cells 92ef239b-3036-4f3d-9c2b-9f3e10ef4a95377 cells 9f1b8194-14f4-4357-914a-4b3fa53c4c4b72 cells 10,000-16,500 nuclei11,475 cells Ben-Gurion University of the Negev15,460 cells General Community11,475 cells diabetes mellitus4,132 cells 10x 3' v3, single-nucleus26,935 cells visceral abdominal adipose tissue11,475 cells Jewish Israeli8,209 cells Hispanic or Latin American2,806 cells African American1,316 cells 8. Differentiation path from ASPCs to adipocytes in subcutaneous adipose tissue
ExploreSubject ID
Sample ID
Sample preservation method
Sample collection method
Suspension derivation process
Suspension dissociation reagent
Cell subtype
Reported diseases
Cell type
Assay
Disease
Sex
Tissue
Ethnicity
Age
67adc4ed-10af-4d25-9530-9a47028bffc85,423 cells e2a7f710-b486-44e8-8d2e-39f858c862904,520 cells b5edb514-271a-434a-ba7f-10b32743eb914,313 cells a13dd2f8-e801-4c2b-9392-f8ffa464e7984,203 cells 08d41e84-60b7-4bc6-90e1-bfabd58b0be13,768 cells flash-freezing22,227 cells mechanical dissociation,detergent solubilization22,227 cells 0.1% Tween-2022,227 cells diabetes mellitus4,313 cells 10x 3' v3, single-nucleus22,227 cells subcutaneous adipose tissue22,227 cells Jewish Israeli12,491 cells 9. Differentiation path from ASPCs to adipocytes in visceral adipose tissue
ExploreSubject ID
Smoking status
Sample ID
Sample preservation method
Sample collection method
Donor BMI at collection
Sample collection year
Suspension derivation process
Suspension dissociation reagent
Sample source
Cell subtype
Reported disease
Cell type
Assay
Disease
Sex
Tissue
Ethnicity
Age
Age group
4b230ffb-6618-4efa-b174-b97b68f8f04f4,813 cells 7c60d225-f306-4fa2-a322-095c5697893f4,482 cells 6c50274d-bb00-46a1-9908-56ad3cea80e23,915 cells 2888c366-2fce-4100-82dd-d09f6939d36d3,755 cells 767a0d10-3857-4cf3-8503-7e7bcf8433273,070 cells 7f6076cf-9cd3-43ce-81fc-17e13f27bd852,979 cells b5180dfd-a19f-4b16-bd9e-a480202ab0112,737 cells fbba1735-4c50-4cda-83e3-6e89cbf754631,957 cells 7743aab2-d4b0-4bd1-8d44-48559ff90f871,934 cells 80578aa0-0580-44fe-a6ec-e27b4d470c3f1,327 cells frozen in liquid nitrogen30,969 cells surgical resection30,969 cells mechanical dissociation,detergent solubilization30,969 cells 0.1% Tween-2030,969 cells Ben-Gurion University of the Negev30,969 cells diabetes mellitus7,883 cells 10x 3' v3, single-nucleus30,969 cells Jewish Israeli16,968 cells