CD248 expression in human adipose tissue is upregulated in obesity and following glucocorticoid exposure: a mediator of insulin resistance and adipose dysfunction?

Authors

Rutger Laterveer, Martin H Lundqvist, Edward M Conway, Afshan N Malik, Maria K Svensson, Magnus Sundbom, Petros Katsogiannos, Jan W Eriksson, Maria J Pereira

Published in

Molecular medicine (Cambridge, Mass.). Volume 32. Issue 1. Oct 07, 2026. Epub Oct 07, 2026.

Abstract

CD248 is a transmembrane glycoprotein implicated in fibrosis, hypoxia, and insulin resistance, but its role in human adipose tissue remains incompletely understood. Because glucocorticoids regulate these processes, we investigated whether CD248 is glucocorticoid responsive and characterized its expression across adipose depots and sexes in obesity.
CD248 expression was assessed in adipose tissue obtained by needle biopsy (75 male/114 female, BMI: 20.1-47.9 kg/m²) and surgical sampling (24 male/39 female, BMI: 20.0-54.4 kg/m²) from individuals without type 2 diabetes, and in an additional cohort with type 2 diabetes (21 male/33 female, BMI: 22.4-42.4 kg/m²). Adipose tissue, isolated adipocytes and stromal vascular fraction were exposed to cortisol and dexamethasone. Circulating CD248 was analyzed in 44,545 participants from the UK Biobank Pharma Proteomics Project.
CD248 expression was higher in subcutaneous adipose tissue in obesity at mRNA (86%) and protein (2-fold) levels, with BMI as the strongest independent predictor. Expression did not differ between individuals with and without type 2 diabetes. Depot-specific differences were identified, with lower CD248 expression in omental adipose tissue than subcutaneous adipose tissue and opposing BMI associations. Sex-specific differences were observed at the protein level, with higher CD248 abundance in females with obesity. Transcriptomic analysis identified remodelling-related pathways in subcutaneous adipose tissue and metabolic pathways in omental adipose tissue. Dexamethasone and cortisol increased CD248 gene expression, and dexamethasone increased CD248 unglycosylated protein in adipocytes. Circulating CD248 increased with BMI and was higher in females with obesity, mirroring adipose tissue protein.
Our findings identify CD248 as a glucocorticoid-responsive and depot-specific marker associated with adiposity and metabolic disturbances, suggesting a potential role in obesity-related adipose tissue dysfunction.

PMID:
42855673
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 10 Oct 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.