Label-Free Detection of Lipid Accumulation in Cells Using Magnetic Levitation.

Dysfunction in adipose tissue can cause serious health problems, including obesity, type-2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, significantly reducing human life expectancy. Differences in differentiation and lipid accumulation in adipocytes reflect their functional status, making it important to characterize adipocytes by monitoring biophysical changes during adipogenic differentiation. However, there is currently no specific cell surface marker to separate mature adipocytes from non-adipose cells based on their lipid content, and separation of mature adipocytes is challenging due to handling limitations without fixation, antibody staining, or particle conjugation.