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Originally published in Science Express on 18 September 2008
Science 24 October 2008:
Vol. 322. no. 5901, pp. 583 - 586
DOI: 10.1126/science.1156232
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Reports

White Fat Progenitor Cells Reside in the Adipose Vasculature

Wei Tang,1 Daniel Zeve,1 Jae Myoung Suh,1 Darko Bosnakovski,1 Michael Kyba,1 Robert E. Hammer,2 Michelle D. Tallquist,3 Jonathan M. Graff1,3,4*

White adipose (fat) tissues regulate metabolism, reproduction, and life span. Adipocytes form throughout life, with the most marked expansion of the lineage occurring during the postnatal period. Adipocytes develop in coordination with the vasculature, but the identity and location of white adipocyte progenitor cells in vivo are unknown. We used genetically marked mice to isolate proliferating and renewing adipogenic progenitors. We found that most adipocytes descend from a pool of these proliferating progenitors that are already committed, either prenatally or early in postnatal life. These progenitors reside in the mural cell compartment of the adipose vasculature, but not in the vasculature of other tissues. Thus, the adipose vasculature appears to function as a progenitor niche and may provide signals for adipocyte development.

1 Department of Developmental Biology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA.
2 Department of Biochemistry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA.
3 Department of Molecular Biology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA.
4 Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: jon.graff{at}utsouthwestern.edu

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E-Letters:

Read all E-Letters

Origin of Adipocytes
Robert P. Erickson
Science Online, 12 Jan 2009 [Full text]
Response to R. P. Erickson's E-Letter
Wei Tang, et al.
Science Online, 12 Jan 2009 [Full text]

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