2. Academic Validation
  3. Multimodal epigenetic and enhancer network remodeling shape the transcriptional landscape of human beige adipocytes

Multimodal epigenetic and enhancer network remodeling shape the transcriptional landscape of human beige adipocytes

  • Commun Biol. 2026 Jan 8;9(1):191. doi: 10.1038/s42003-025-09469-8.
Sarah Hazell Pickering # 1,  Natalia M Galigniana # 1 2,  Mohamed Abdelhalim # 1,  Anita L Sørensen 1,  Julia Madsen-Østerbye 1,  Manuela Zucknick 3,  Philippe Collas 4 5,  Nolwenn Briand 6
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Molecular Medicine, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
  • 2 Department of Immunology and Transfusion Medicine, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
  • 3 Oslo Centre for Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
  • 4 Department of Molecular Medicine, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway. [email protected].
  • 5 Department of Immunology and Transfusion Medicine, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway. [email protected].
  • 6 Department of Molecular Medicine, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway. [email protected].
  • # Contributed equally.
PMID: 41501500 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-025-09469-8
Abstract

Epigenetic regulation is a key determinant of adipocyte fate, driving the differentiation toward white or thermogenic beige phenotypes in response to environmental cues. To dissect the mechanisms orchestrating this plasticity in human adipocytes, we conducted an integrative analysis of transcriptomic, epigenomic and enhancer connectome dynamics throughout white and beige adipogenesis. Using a machine learning approach, we show that the white transcriptional program is tightly linked to promoter-level modulation of H3K27ac and chromatin accessibility, whereas the beige-specific induction of mitochondrial genes is driven by promoter remodeling of H3K4me3, underscoring distinct epigenetic mechanisms for white or beige specification. Adipocyte beiging is accompanied by a targeted reorganization of the 3D genome, characterized by increased recruitment of short-range enhancers controlling thermogenesis genes, enriched for C/EBP transcription factor binding sites. Our findings highlight the multimodal regulation of the beige adipocyte fate, driven by the interplay of chromatin state transitions, enhancer rewiring, and transcription factor dynamics.

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