Identification of Key Pathways and Genes in the Subcutaneous Fat Tissue from Different Sexes of Pigs using WGCNA Method

Background: Obesity is a complex disease that will endanger human life and health, and obesity is closely related to subcutaneous fat deposition. Some studies have shown the significant association between subcutaneous fat deposition and sex. However, the molecular mechanisms for this association are still unclear. The objective of this study is to identify key pathways and genes related to the subcutaneous adipose tissue between different sexes of pigs.Results: A total of 16 coexpression modules were detected, of which two sex-related modules were found. Functional enrichment analyses showed that the genes in the purple module were mainly enriched in some pathways related to lipid metabolism such as Regulation of lipolysis in adipocytes. The genes in the magenta module mainly involved in some pathways related to immunity such as Defense response to virus and Immune response. Furthermore, 7 extracellular matrix (ECM)-related genes and 7 lipid metabolism-related genes were identified in the purple module. In the magenta module, 17 genes and 2 transcription factors participating in Type I interferon response were identified which were associated with immunity. Conclusions: The present study identified key pathways and genes in subcutaneous adipose tissue from different sexes of pigs, which provided some insights into the molecular mechanism involving in fat formation and immunoregulation between pigs with different sexes. These findings may be helpful for breeding in pig industry and obesity treatment in medicine.