Within the first 24 h of hormonally stimulated adipocyte differentiation, murine 3T3-L1 preadipocytes undergo a mitotic expansion phase prior to terminal differentiation. During this time, the cell cycle regulatory proteins, p130 and p107 undergo dramatic differential expression and the transient increase in expression of p107 appears to be required for terminal differentiation. Recently, human adipose-derived human stem cells (hASC) of mesenchymal origin have been used as a model of human adipocyte differentiation and we sought to determine if differentiating hASC undergo clonal expansion and if the regulated expression of p130/p107 was similar to that observed during 3T3-L1 adipogenesis. Results indicate that differentiating hASC, unlike 3T3-L1 cells do not undergo clonal expansion and p130 expression gradually diminishes across differentiation. However, p107 expression is transiently increased during hASC differentiation in a manner analogous to 3T3-L1 cells suggesting a similar role for p107 in terminal differentiation in human adipocytes.
Keywords3T3-L1 cells; hASC cells; Human adult stem cells; Adipocyte differentiation; p130; p107The past 20 years have seen a dramatic increase in obesity in the United States. To date, more than 17% of American children and adolescents are considered overweight, and almost one third of adults are classified as obese [1]. This is particularly alarming given that obesity represents a significant risk factor for many diseases and health conditions including hypertension, dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea, and endometrial, breast, and colon cancers [1]. Due to the increasing epidemic of obesity and the health risks associated with the condition, much research has focused on identifying the underlying causes of obesity. However, in order to develop better control strategies, a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms that initiate differentiation of preadipocytes and stem cell into adipocytes in humans is still needed.Significant portions of the current understanding of adipocyte differentiation have been obtained through the study of in vitro cellular models of adipocyte differentiation such as the murine 3T3-L1 preadipocyte cell line and the process of 3T3-L1 preadipocyte differentiation into mature adipocytes is well characterized [2,3]. Culturing 3T3-L1 cells in serumsupplemented medium results in growth to confluence, leading to contact inhibition and growth arrest [4]. Differentiation is induced by a 4 day hormonal treatment regimen consisting of insulin, dexamethasone, and 1-methyl-3-isobutylmethylxanthine [5]. Hormonal induction results in re-entry into the cell cycle, and the cells undergo one to two rounds of mitotic clonal
NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript expansion for about 24-36 h. They then permanently withdraw from the cell cycle and undergo terminal differentiation into mature adipocytes [6]. We have previously demonstrated that...