High-throughput RNA sequencing of human Simpson-Golabi-Behmel syndrome cells (SGBS) was performed during the time-course of adipogenic differentiation at day 4 (D04), 6 (D06), 8 (D08), and 10 (D10) to characterize transcriptomic changes and to identify key patterns involved in adipogenesis and browning. In the comparisons, 932 and 384 overlapping transcripts were consistently up- and down-regulated, respectively. Combining the results of protein-protein interaction network analysis MCODE and CytoHubba, 55 up-regulated hub genes from four clusters and 9 down-regulated genes were identified. The up-regulated hub genes were mainly enriched in brown adipocyte differentiation, extracellular matrix organization, and valine, leucine, and isoleucine degradation. The enrichment of downregulated hub genes was related to NRF2 signalling and glutathione metabolism, indicating that oxidative stress also plays a role. Analysis of overlapping down-regulated genes, targets of transcription factors, revealed enrichment in the IL-18 signalling pathway, which is involved in browning process and extracellular matrix organization via actomyosin mechanics and integrin-extracellular matrix interactions. Finally, the comparison transcriptomic analysis with the gene signature reported by BATLAS and PROFAT web-based tools showed an increased percentage of the brown phenotype, confirming that differentiated SGBS cells at D06, D08, and D10 gradually acquire BAT-like function.
