Kirkland J L, Dobson D E
Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Massachusetts, USA.
J Am Geriatr Soc. 1997 Aug;45(8):959-67. doi: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1997.tb02967.x.
To review recent findings about changes with age in the replication and differentiation of preadipocytes, the progenitor cells in fat tissue that are capable of differentiating into fat cells, and to examine possible links between these alterations and age-related changes in fat tissue function.
A survey and analysis of recent literature concerning changes in preadipocyte and fat cell function with age.
Intrinsic aging changes in fat cells and preadipocytes as well as in factors extrinsic to fat tissue (such as food intake and absorption and hormonal status) contribute to age-related alterations in fat tissue function and cellularity. Changes with age in preadipocyte number, replicative potential, and capacity for differentiation, which may be linked to aging changes in fat cell size, number, and function, have been identified. The decline in preadipocyte capacity for differentiation and the associated decline in fat cell lipogenic capacity may be particularly important in contributing to the decrease in fat mass and alterations in fat tissue function that occur between middle- and old age. These declines result from blunting of the changes in gene expression that occur during preadipocyte differentiation and may, in turn, be related to altered regulation of particular transcription factors that control the preadipocyte differentiation program and maintenance of fat cell function.
回顾有关脂肪前体细胞（脂肪组织中能够分化为脂肪细胞的祖细胞）复制和分化随年龄变化的最新研究结果，并探讨这些变化与脂肪组织功能的年龄相关变化之间可能存在的联系。
对有关脂肪前体细胞和脂肪细胞功能随年龄变化的近期文献进行调查和分析。
脂肪细胞和脂肪前体细胞的内在衰老变化以及脂肪组织外部因素（如食物摄入与吸收及激素状态），均导致了脂肪组织功能和细胞构成的年龄相关改变。已确定脂肪前体细胞数量、复制潜能及分化能力随年龄的变化，这些变化可能与脂肪细胞大小、数量及功能的衰老变化相关。脂肪前体细胞分化能力的下降以及相关的脂肪细胞脂肪生成能力的下降，对于导致中年和老年之间脂肪量减少及脂肪组织功能改变可能尤为重要。这些下降是由于脂肪前体细胞分化过程中发生的基因表达变化减弱所致，进而可能与控制脂肪前体细胞分化程序及脂肪细胞功能维持的特定转录因子的调控改变有关。
