Center for Molecular Medicine, Maine Medical Center Research Institute, Scarborough, ME, USA.
Section on Integrative Physiology and Metabolism, Joslin Diabetes Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Stem Cells. 2022 Mar 3;40(1):102-111. doi: 10.1093/stmcls/sxab005.
In adult tissues such as adipose tissue, post-mitotic cells like adipocytes can be replaced by differentiation of a population of tissue-resident stem cells. Expression of mouse telomerase reverse transcriptase (mTert) is a hallmark of stem cell populations, and previous efforts to identify tissue-resident adult stem cells by measuring mTert expression have increased our understanding of stem cell biology significantly. Here, we used a doxycycline-inducible mouse model to perform longitudinal, live-animal lineage-tracing of mTert-expressing cells for more than 1 year. We identified a rare (<2%) population of stem cells in different fat depots that express putative preadipocyte markers. The adipose-derived mTert-positive cells are capable of self-renewal and possess adipogenic potential. Finally, we demonstrate that high-fat diet (HFD) can initiate differentiation of these cells in vivo. These data identify a population of adipose stem cells that contribute to the depot-specific response to HFD.
在成人组织中，如脂肪组织，有丝分裂后的细胞（如脂肪细胞）可以通过分化一群组织驻留的干细胞来替代。表达小鼠端粒酶逆转录酶（mTert）是干细胞群体的一个标志，以前通过测量 mTert 表达来鉴定组织驻留的成体干细胞的努力，大大提高了我们对干细胞生物学的理解。在这里，我们使用一种强力霉素诱导的小鼠模型，对 mTert 表达细胞进行了超过 1 年的纵向、活体谱系追踪。我们在不同的脂肪组织中发现了一个罕见的（<2%）表达假定前体细胞标志物的干细胞群体。脂肪组织来源的 mTert 阳性细胞具有自我更新能力和脂肪生成潜能。最后，我们证明高脂肪饮食（HFD）可以在体内诱导这些细胞的分化。这些数据鉴定了一群脂肪干细胞，它们有助于脂肪组织对高脂肪饮食的特异性反应。
