Liu SS, Fang X, Wen X, Liu JS, Alip M, Sun T, Wang YY, Chen HW. How mesenchymal stem cells transform into adipocytes: Overview of the current understanding of adipogenic differentiation. World J Stem Cells 2024; 16(3): 245-256 [PMID: 38577237 DOI: 10.4252/wjsc.v16.i3.245]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Hong-Wei Chen, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Reumatology and Immunology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Medical School, Nanjing University, No. 321 Zhongshan Road, Nanjing 210008, Jiangsu Province, China. chenhw@nju.edu.cn
Research Domain of This Article
Cell Biology
Article-Type of This Article
Minireviews
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Shan-Shan Liu, Xin Wen, Miribangvl Alip, Tian Sun, Hong-Wei Chen, Department of Reumatology and Immunology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Medical School, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210008, Jiangsu Province, China
Xiang Fang, Department of Emergency, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Medical School, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210008, Jiangsu Province, China
Ji-Shan Liu, Key Laboratory for Biomechanics and Mechanobiology of Ministry of Education, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
Yuan-Yuan Wang, Anhui Key Laboratory of Infection and Immunity, Bengbu Medical College, Bengbu 233000, Anhui Province, China
Co-first authors: Shan-Shan Liu and Xiang Fang.
Author contributions: Liu SS and Fang X contributed equally to write the paper; Wen X, Liu JS, Alip M, Sun T, and Wang YY provided data; Chen HW designed the review and were responsible for the final proofreading; and all authors have read and approve the final manuscript.
Supported bythe National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 82271843 and 31700779; the Key Project supported by Medical Science and Technology Development Foundation, Nanjing Department of Health, No. ZKX20019; and the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province, No. BK20200137.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Hong-Wei Chen, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Reumatology and Immunology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Medical School, Nanjing University, No. 321 Zhongshan Road, Nanjing 210008, Jiangsu Province, China. chenhw@nju.edu.cn
Received: October 31, 2023 Peer-review started: October 31, 2023 First decision: December 19, 2023 Revised: January 15, 2024 Accepted: February 18, 2024 Article in press: February 18, 2024 Published online: March 26, 2024 Processing time: 145 Days and 18.7 Hours
Abstract
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are stem/progenitor cells capable of self-renewal and differentiation into osteoblasts, chondrocytes and adipocytes. The transformation of multipotent MSCs to adipocytes mainly involves two subsequent steps from MSCs to preadipocytes and further preadipocytes into adipocytes, in which the process MSCs are precisely controlled to commit to the adipogenic lineage and then mature into adipocytes. Previous studies have shown that the master transcription factors C/enhancer-binding protein alpha and peroxisome proliferation activator receptor gamma play vital roles in adipogenesis. However, the mechanism underlying the adipogenic differentiation of MSCs is not fully understood. Here, the current knowledge of adipogenic differentiation in MSCs is reviewed, focusing on signaling pathways, noncoding RNAs and epigenetic effects on DNA methylation and acetylation during MSC differentiation. Finally, the relationship between maladipogenic differentiation and diseases is briefly discussed. We hope that this review can broaden and deepen our understanding of how MSCs turn into adipocytes.
Core Tip: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are able to differentiate into adipocytes, while the mechanism underlying the adipogenic differentiation of MSCs is not fully understood. Here, we summarize the function of signaling pathways, noncoding RNAs and epigenetic modification in MSC differentiation, and finally discuss the relationship between maladipogenic differentiation and diseases briefly.
