Since our miRNA analyses revealed differential miRNA expression associated with adipose tissue depots, metabolic syndrome and specific cis-located genetic variants, we were interested in assessing if miRNA variability had any association with target mRNA expression levels. Such an association, particularly if anti-correlated, might indicate an active regulatory role of miRNA on their target mRNAs, providing an indication of down-stream effects related to miRNA expression variability. Investigation of associations between miRNA and their predicted conserved mRNA targets revealed that a proportion of miRNAs had a significant effect on their target mRNAs in both abdominal and gluteal adipose tissue. Finally, we assessed the functional role of miRNA activity in adipose tissue by means of an enrichment analysis of KEGG terms in each tissue type. We found that a number of KEGG terms were common between the two tissue types, including MAPK signaling pathway, Insulin signaling pathway, Type II diabetes mellitus and Adipocytokine signalling pathway. We also noted that a proportion of the significant KEGG terms indicated pathways that are potentially relevant for T2D, obesity and related metabolic disorders in these adipose tissue depots (Table S9 and S10).
