We reported aldosterone as a novel adipocyte-derived factor that regulates vascular function. We aimed to investigate molecular mechanisms, signaling pathways, and functional significance of adipocyte-derived aldosterone and to test whether adipocyte-derived aldosterone is increased in diabetes mellitus-associated obesity, which contributes to vascular dysfunction. Studies were performed in the...

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) can differentiate into osteoblasts, adipocytes, chondrocytes and myoblasts. It has been suggested that a reciprocal relationship exists between the differentiation of MSC into osteoblasts and adipocytes. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma2 (PPARgamma2) is a key element for the differentiation into adipocytes. Activation of the nuclear protein deacetyla...

Due to the importance of fat tissues in both energy balance and in the associated disorders arising when such balance is not maintained, adipocyte differentiation has been extensively investigated in order to control and inhibit the enlargement of white adipose tissue. The ability of a cell to undergo adipocyte differentiation is one particular feature of all mesenchymal cells. Up until now, th...

1-Butyrylglycerol (monobutyrin) is a novel angiogenic compound that is synthesized and secreted during the differentiation of 3T3-F442A preadipocytes into adipocytes. To study the regulation of monobutyrin biosynthesis we have developed an assay utilizing the lgycerol kinase enzyme from Cellulomonas to quantitate the levels of this compound in cell-conditioned medium. Analysis of several cultur...

OBJECTIVE The induction of beige/brite adipose cells in white adipose tissue (WAT) is associated with protection against high fat diet-induced obesity and insulin resistance in animals. The helix-loop-helix transcription factor Early B-Cell Factor-2 (EBF2) regulates brown adipose tissue development. Here, we asked if EBF2 regulates beige fat cell biogenesis and protects animals against obesity....

In mammals, two types of adipose tissue are present, brown and white. They develop sequentially, as brown fat occurs during late gestation whereas white fat grows mainly after birth. However, both tissues have been shown to have great plasticity. Thus an apparent transformation of brown fat into white fat takes place during post-natal development. This observation raises questions about a possi...

When induced to differentiate, growth-arrested 3T3-L1 preadipocytes synchronously reenter the cell cycle and undergo mitotic clonal expansion (MCE) followed by expression of genes that produce the adipocyte phenotype. The preadipocytes traverse the G(1)S checkpoint synchronously as evidenced by the expressionactivation of cdk2-cyclin-EA, turnover of p27kip1, hyperphosphorylation of Rb, transloc...

Obesity prevalence is increasing worldwide and is accompanied by low-grade inflammation with macrophage infiltration, which is linked with a poorer breast cancer prognosis. Lunasin is a natural seed peptide with chemopreventive properties and multiple bioactivities. This is the first study to explore the chemopreventive effects of lunasin in the obesity-related breast cancer condition using 4T1...

Adipocytes express high levels of the HDL scavenger receptor class B type I in a differentiation-dependent manner. We thus have analyzed the routes of HDL cholesterol trafficking at different phases of adipocyte differentiation in the 3T3-L1 cell line. One novel and salient feature of this paper is the observation of a widespread distribution in the cell cytoplasm of Golgi markers, caveolin-2, ...

Enlarged fat cells exhibit modified metabolic capacities, which could be involved in the metabolic complications of obesity at the whole body level. We show here that sterol regulatory element-binding protein 2 (SREBP-2) and its target genes are induced in the adipose tissue of several models of rodent obesity, suggesting cholesterol imbalance in enlarged adipocytes. Within a particular fat pad...