Emont Margo P, Yu Hui, Jun Heejin, Hong Xiaowei, Maganti Nenita, Stegemann Jan P, Wu Jun
Life Sciences Institute (M.P.E., H.Y., H.J., J.W.), Departments of Molecular and Integrative Physiology (M.P.E., J.W.) and Biomedical Engineering (X.H., J.P.S.), and College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (N.M.), University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109.
Endocrinology. 2015 Dec;156(12):4761-8. doi: 10.1210/en.2015-1567. Epub 2015 Oct 1.
It has long been recognized that body fat distribution and regional adiposity play a major role in the control of metabolic homeostasis. However, the ability to study and compare the cell autonomous regulation and response of adipocytes from different fat depots has been hampered by the difficulty of inducing preadipocytes isolated from the visceral depot to differentiate into mature adipocytes in culture. Here, we present an easily created 3-dimensional (3D) culture system that can be used to differentiate preadipocytes from the visceral depot as robustly as those from the sc depot. The cells differentiated in these 3D collagen gels are mature adipocytes that retain depot-specific characteristics, as determined by imaging, gene expression, and functional assays. This 3D culture system therefore allows for study of the development and function of adipocytes from both depots in vitro and may ultimately lead to a greater understanding of site-specific functional differences of adipose tissues to metabolic dysregulation.
长期以来，人们已经认识到身体脂肪分布和局部肥胖在代谢稳态控制中起主要作用。然而，由于难以诱导从内脏脂肪库分离的前脂肪细胞在培养中分化为成熟脂肪细胞，研究和比较来自不同脂肪库的脂肪细胞的细胞自主调节和反应的能力受到了阻碍。在这里，我们展示了一种易于创建的三维（3D）培养系统，该系统可用于将内脏脂肪库的前脂肪细胞与皮下脂肪库的前脂肪细胞一样有效地分化。在这些3D胶原凝胶中分化的细胞是成熟的脂肪细胞，通过成像、基因表达和功能测定确定，它们保留了特定脂肪库的特征。因此，这种3D培养系统允许在体外研究来自两个脂肪库的脂肪细胞的发育和功能，并最终可能有助于更深入地了解脂肪组织对代谢失调的部位特异性功能差异。
