Temporal and spatial metabolite dynamics impart control in adipogenesis

Abstract

The process of adipogenesis is critical for forming new, healthy adipocytes that are capable of storing lipids. In this issue, Sánchez-Ramírez and Ung et al. (2022. J. Cell Biol.https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.202111137) reveal a novel role for the metabolite nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide in controlling differentiation of mesenchymal stromal cells into adipocytes.

Figure 1.

NAD⁺ metabolism imparts temporal regulation in the process of adipogenic differentiation. NAD⁺ plays an inhibitory role in the process of differentiation of mesenchymal stromal cells to lipid-storing adipocytes at early stages of adipogenesis, though the NAD⁺-regulated enzyme SIRT1 plays a minimal effect at this stage. NAD⁺ both induces a proapoptotic gene signature at early-stage differentiation and inhibits the shift from glycolytic to oxidative metabolism.