Total RNA was extracted from homogenized adipose tissue samples from each subject using TRI Reagent (Sigma, Gillingham, UK) in accordance with manufacturer's procedure. RNA quality was assessed using a spectrophotometer (NanoDrop, Labtech International, UK) and the Bioanalyzer 2100 (Agilent, South Queensferry, West Lothian, UK). MiRNA expression profiling was carried out using the Illumina miRNA BeadArray platform (version 2), 96 sample universal array matrix format (MI-102-1196). The Illumina miRNA BeadArray platform includes probes against 859 known human miRNA sequences and 287 predicted miRNA sequences. Briefly, 400 ng of miRNA were used per sample, samples were polyadenylated, converted to biotinylated cDNA and hybridized to the BeadArray, and then a universal PCR amplification was performed resulting in fluorescently labelled product labelled by miRNA specific oligo (MSO) molecules. Arrays were then scanned using the BeadArray Reader (Illumina, San Diego, US). Samples were measured in technical duplicates (with a few in triplicates). Due to a small number of failed assays, data are available from 69 abdominal adipose samples (140 arrays including technical duplicates) and 66 gluteal adipose samples (134 arrays including technical duplicates). In total,
