Cellular Senescence with Aging in Human Adipose Tissue
Adipose tissue serves as an energy reservoir and helps maintain lipid homeostasis in the body. Aging and obesity are two major contributors to cellular senescence in human adipose tissue. This project aims to determine whether age-dependent senescence can be detected in individuals with similarly high BMI. We analyzed female visceral adipose tissue from young (18–35 yo), middle-aged (36–55 yo), and older adults (56–75 yo) with BMI 40 ± 5. Cellular senescence was assessed by measuring senescence-associated gene expression using a TaqMan qPCR assay to validate genes identified by snRNA-seq as increasing with age. Gene expression was normalized to housekeeping controls. The target genes reflected key features of senescence, including cell-cycle arrest, extracellular matrix remodeling, and inflammation. One-way and two-way ANOVA were used to evaluate differences across age groups. Older adults showed higher expression of several senescence-associated genes, including cell-cycle arrest markers (P16, P21) and inflammatory genes (IL6, TNFα). Overall, we observed an age-related increase in senescence-associated genes in high-BMI adipose tissue, consistent with reports in older healthy adipose tissue, suggesting opportunities to promote healthy aging and reduce age- and obesity-related disease risk in obese individuals using strategies effective in healthy aging.