Differentiation of Brown Adipocyte Progenitors Derived from Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells.

In this chapter, we describe a protocol to induce at a high rate the differentiation of brown/brown like adipocyte progenitors (BAPs) derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs). We also describe culture conditions to maintain hiPSCs and to derive hiPSC-BAPs.This novel culture system provides an unlimited source of human brown adipocytes and a unique means for studying events regulating the generation and recruitment of human BAPs.

Brown-like adipose progenitors derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells: Identification of critical pathways governing their adipogenic capacity.

Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) show great promise for obesity treatment as they represent an unlimited source of brown/brite adipose progenitors (BAPs). However, hiPSC-BAPs display a low adipogenic capacity compared to adult-BAPs when maintained in a traditional adipogenic cocktail. The reasons of this feature are unknown and hamper their use both in cell-based therapy and basic research.

Human induced pluripotent stem cells: A new source for brown and white adipocytes.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) provide a novel source for generating adipocytes, thus opening new avenues for fundamental research and clinical medicine. We present the adipogenic potential of hiPSCs and the various methods to derive hiPSC-MSCs. We discuss the main characteristic of hiPSC-MSCs, which is their low adipogenic capacity as compared to adult-MSCs.

Characterization of brown adipose tissue in the human perirenal depot.

Objective: To characterize brown adipose tissue (BAT) in the human perirenal adipose tissue depot.

Method: Perirenal adipose tissue biopsies were obtained from 55 healthy kidney donors. Expression analysis was performed using microarray, real-time PCR, immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry.

Differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem cells into brown and white adipocytes: role of Pax3.

Identification of molecular mechanisms involved in generation of different types of adipocytes is progressing substantially in mice. However, much less is known regarding characterization of brown (BAP) and white adipocyte progenitors (WAPs) in humans, highlighting the need for an in vitro model of human adipocyte development. Here, we report a procedure to selectively derive BAP and WAPs from human-induced pluripotent stem cells.

Expression of cell surface markers during self-renewal and differentiation of human adipose-derived stem cells.

Human adipose-derived stem cell populations express cell surface markers such as CD105, CD73, CD146 and CD140a/PDFGRα. However, it was unclear whether these markers could discriminate subpopulations of undifferentiated cells and whether the expression of these markers is modulated during differentiation. To address this issue, we analysed the immunophenotype of cultured human multipotent adipose derived stem (hMADS) cell populations at different adipocyte differentiation steps.