Abstract:
The ability of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) to differentiate into adipocytes provides a cellular model of
human origin to study adipogenesis in vitro. One of the major challenges in studying adipogenesis is the lack
of tools to identify and monitor the differentiation of various subpopulations within the heterogeneous pool
of MSCs. Cluster of differentiation (CD)36 plays an important role in the formation of intracellular lipid
droplets, a key characteristic of adipocyte differentiation/maturation. The objective of this study was to
develop a reproducible quantitative method to study adipocyte differentiation by comparing two lipophilic
dyes [Nile Red (NR) and Bodipy 493/503] in combination with CD36 surface marker staining. We identified
a subpopulation of adiposederived
stromal cells that express CD36 at intermediate/high levels and show that
combining CD36 cell surface staining with neutral lipidspecific
staining allows us to monitor differentiation
of adiposederived
stromal cells that express CD36 during adipocyte differentiation in vitro.
The gradual increase of CD36 NR cells during the 21 day adipogenesis induction
period correlated with upregulation of adipogenesisassociated
gene expression.
