Molgat AS, Gagnon A, Sorisky A. Preadipocyte apoptosis is prevented by macrophage-conditioned medium in a PDGF-dependent manner. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol 296: C757-C765, 2009. First published February 18, 2009 doi:10.1152/ajpcell.00617.2008.-Obesity is associated with macrophage accumulation and inflammation in adipose tissue. Macrophage-secreted factors have been reported to inhibit the differentiation of preadipocytes into adipocytes and to modulate adipogenic extracellular matrix gene expression. To enlarge our understanding of macrophages and the scope of their interactions with preadipocytes, we investigated their effect on preadipocyte survival. Acute exposure of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes to J774A.1 macrophage-conditioned medium (MacCM) stimulated platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR) tyrosine phosphorylation by 4.1-fold. There were significant increases in the phosphocontent of downstream PDGFR targets Akt and ERK1/2 (5.3-fold and 2.4-fold, respectively) that were inhibited by PDGF immunoneutralization or by the selective PDGFR inhibitor imatinib. Serum-free J774A.1-MacCM or RAW264.7-MacCM completely prevented 3T3-L1 preadipocyte apoptosis normally induced by serum deprivation. Addition of PDGF alone to serum-free control medium was sufficient to prevent 3T3-L1 preadipocyte apoptosis. Inhibition of PDGFR activation by MacCM, either by addition of imatinib or by PDGF immunodepletion of MacCM, effectively disrupted the prosurvival effect. In summary, our data indicate that MacCM promotes preadipocyte survival in a PDGFdependent manner.platelet-derived growth factor; obesity; macrophage OBESITY, defined as an increase in adiposity, results from a chronic positive energy balance. Expansion of adipose tissue occurs through the formation of new adipocytes, via the differentiation of stromal precursor preadipocytes, and the enlargement of existing adipocytes (9). Deficiency in the number of preadipocytes, or their capacity to differentiate, may lead to excessively hypertrophied and dysfunctional adipocytes that overproduce immune cell chemoattractant proteins (7,13,14). Concomitantly, the population of adipose tissue macrophages rises due to monocyte infiltration. This abnormal cellular remodeling of adipose tissue is associated with low-grade inflammation and insulin resistance (38,39).Paracrine communication among macrophages, adipocytes, and preadipocytes is believed to contribute to obesity-associated adipose tissue dysfunction (12). We and others have reported that macrophages produce anti-adipogenic factors that restrain the differentiation of preadipocytes into adipocytes (4,5,15,17,33,40). Macrophage-secreted factors have also been observed to have variable effects on preadipocyte proliferation (17,23). Apoptosis, the other key preadipocyte fate pertinent to adipose tissue remodeling (11, 21, 28), has not been evaluated with respect to potential macrophage paracrine interactions.The precise identity of the macrophage products influencing preadipocyte responses is not known. Here, we demonstrate th...