Differentiation of Rabbit Adipocyte Precursor Cells in a Serum-Free Medium

• Published in: In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology 1989-08, Vol.25 (8), p.747-752
• Main Authors: Reyne, Yves, Nouguès, Jean, Dulor, Jean-Paul
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adipocytes; Adipose Tissue - cytology; Animal cells; Animals; B lymphocytes; Biological and medical sciences; Biotechnology; Cell culture techniques; Cell cultures. Hybridization. Fusion; Cell Differentiation - drug effects; Cell lines; Cells, Cultured; Cellular differentiation; Corticosterone - analysis; Corticosterone - pharmacology; Corticosterone - physiology; Culture Media - analysis; Culture Media - pharmacology; Cultured cells; Dexamethasone - analysis; Dexamethasone - pharmacology; Dexamethasone - physiology; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Establishment of new cell lines, improvement of cultural methods, mass cultures; Eukaryotic cell cultures; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Glucocorticoids; Insulin; Insulin - analysis; Insulin - pharmacology; Insulin - physiology; Methods. Procedures. Technologies; Molecular and cellular biology; Rabbits; Stem cells; Stromal cells; Transferrin - analysis; Transferrin - pharmacology; Triiodothyronine - analysis; Triiodothyronine - pharmacology
• ISSN: 0883-8364; 2327-431X; 1475-2689
• DOI: 10.1007/BF02623728

A serum-free, hormone-supplemented medium containing insulin, transferrin, and triiodothyronine (ITT medium), able to support differentiation of rat adipose precursor cells, has been used to study the regulation of the development of adipocytes in the rabbit. Adipose conversion was assessed by the appearance of glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase activity. Stromal-vascular cells from rabbit perirenal adipose tissue differentiated to a very low extent or not at all in ITT medium. Supplementation of ITT medium with growth hormone or fibroblast growth factor did not increase the proportion of differentiated cells. In contrast, rabbit stromal-vascular cells were able to differentiate in ITT medium supplemented with glucocorticoids (dexamethasone, corticosterone) whereas sex steroids (β-estradiol, testosterone, progesterone) did not affect the differentiation process. In the presence of both dexamethasone and insulin, 20 to 50% of rabbit stromal-vascular cells differentiated into adipocytes within 2 wk of culture. The stimulatory actions of dexamethasone or insulin were dose-dependent. Insulin-like growth Factor-I (IGF-I), did not replace insulin under our culture conditions and had only a slight effect when added along with dexamethasone (100 nM) and insulin (1.7 nM). The results suggest that glucocorticoids, in association with insulin, may play an important role in the development of adipocytes from rabbit precursor cells.