Investigating interactions between epicardial adipose tissue and cardiac myocytes: what can we learn from different approaches?

Unlabelled: Heart disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the world. Some cardiovascular conditions can be modulated by lifestyle factors such as increased exercise or a healthier diet, but many require surgical or pharmacological interventions for their management. More targeted and less invasive therapies would be beneficial.

Culture and differentiation of preadipocytes in two-dimensional and three-dimensional in vitro systems.

Adipogenesis is a complex process that involves the differentiation of preadipocytes into mature adipocytes. We have developed two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) cell culture systems for the purpose of culturing and differentiating primary preadipocytes in vitro. Differentiating preadipocytes show multiple lipid droplet accumulation and comparable protein expression patterns to mature adipocytes in vivo.