Modeling Adipogenesis: Current and Future Perspective

Abstract

Adipose tissue is contemplated as a dynamic organ that plays key roles in the human body. Adipogenesis is the process by which adipocytes develop from adipose-derived stem cells to form the adipose tissue. Adipose-derived stem cells' differentiation serves well beyond the simple goal of producing new adipocytes. Indeed, with the current immense biotechnological advances, the most critical role of adipose-derived stem cells remains their tremendous potential in the field of regenerative medicine. This review focuses on examining the physiological importance of adipogenesis, the current approaches that are employed to model this tightly controlled phenomenon, and the crucial role of adipogenesis in elucidating the pathophysiology and potential treatment modalities of human diseases. The future of adipogenesis is centered around its crucial role in regenerative and personalized medicine.

Keywords: adipogenesis; adipose-derived stem cells; modeling; organoids; preadipocytes.

Figure 1

The process of adipogenesis: schematic of undergoing adipogenesis mechanism from immature (preadipocyte) to a mature state (adipocyte). Surface markers used for phenotype characterization of both cells, as well as notable transcription factors that drive adipocyte differentiation, are described. In addition, models utilized to study adipogenesis subcategorized into cell lines and adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) with brief description into variable methods used to induce differentiation. Below are featured highlight of each adipose tissue subtypes summarized from other studies [95,96,97].

Figure 2

Modeling adipogenesis: (A) cell culture models used to study adipogenesis in vitro. Although 2D cell culture models are simple and reproducible, they lack the complexity and physiological relevance exhibited in 3D cell culture models. Example of complex 3D cell culture models, (B) using 3D collagen matrices as a biomimetic tissue model and (C) a white adipose tissue (WAT)-on-a-chip. Images are adapted with permission from References [99,100], for Figure 2B and 2C, respectively.

Figure 3

Modeling adipogenesis for experimental approaches and clinical applications: a schematic illustrating potential experimental approaches from isolation of ADSCs throughout culturing, applications (listed), including clinical experiments and trial, and finally towards potential transplantation.