Elevated bone morphogenic protein 4 expression implicated in site-specific adipogenesis in thyroid associated orbitopathy.

Periorbital adipose tissue expansion is a key pathological change in thyroid associated orbitopathy (TAO). Bone morphogenic protein 4 (BMP4) is instrumental in adipogenesis. We compared site-specific BMP4 expression and its effect on adipogenesis using donor-matched adipose tissue-derived stromal cells (ADSC) from TAO patients. In this study, ADSC were generated from periorbital (eyelid, orbital) and subcutaneous (abdominal) adipose tissue. BMP4 expression was characterized by RT-PCR and immunofluorescent staining and compared among ADSC from the three anatomic depots. Effects on adipogenesis after knocking down endogenous BMP4 were quantified by adipogenic markers PPARγ and perilipin. Exogenous BMP4 protein was added after BMP4 knockdown to study the role of BMP4 in adipogenesis. Our results showed that BMP4 staining in periorbital adipose tissue was stronger than those in subcutaneous. BMP4 mRNA expression was higher in eyelid (4.4-2489.4-fold) and orbital (6.9-1811-fold) than that of subcutaneous ADSC, whereas expression fell during induced adipogenesis. After BMP4 knockdown, both adipogenic markers PPARγ (eyelid: 1.7-fold, p = 0.038; orbital: 1.4-fold, p = 0.126) and perilipin (eyelid:1.7-fold, p = 0.001; orbital:2.6-fold, p = 0.066) increased in periorbital ADSC upon induction. These increased expression fell after adding exogenous BMP4 protein. Our findings demonstrated higher BMP4 expression was found in periorbital ADSC and adipose tissue compared to donor-matched subcutaneous counterparts, which fell during adipogenic induction. Knocking down BMP4 expression further enhanced adipogenesis in periorbital ADSC. This effect was reversed by adding exogenous BMP4 protein. We suggested a novel role of BMP4 in modulating site-specific adipogenesis in TAO patients.