The role of Pref-1 during adipogenic differentiation : an overview of suggested mechanisms

Abstract

Obesity contributes significantly to the global health burden. A better understanding of adipogenesis, the process of fat formation, may lead to the discovery of novel treatment strategies. However, it is of concern that the regulation of adipocyte di erentiation has predominantly been studied using the murine 3T3-L1 preadipocyte cell line and murine experimental animal models. Translation of these findings to the human setting requires confirmation using experimental models of human origin. The ability of mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSCs) to di erentiate into adipocytes is an attractive model to study adipogenesis in vitro. Di erences in the ability of MSCs isolated from di erent sources to undergo adipogenic di erentiation, may be useful in investigating elements responsible for regulating adipogenic di erentiation potential. Genes involved may be divided into three broad categories: early, intermediate and late-stage regulators. Preadipocyte factor-1 (Pref-1) is an early negative regulator of adipogenic di erentiation. In this review, we briefly discuss the adipogenic di erentiation potential of MSCs derived from two di erent sources, namely adipose-derived stromal/stem cells (ASCs) and Wharton’s Jelly derived stromal/stem cells (WJSCs). We then discuss the function and suggested mechanisms of action of Pref-1 in regulating adipogenesis, as well as current findings regarding Pref-1’s role in human adipogenesis.