Novel anti-adipogenic activity produced by human fibroblasts

Fatty tissue is generally found in distinct "depots" distributed throughout the human body. Adipocytes from each of the various depots differ in their metabolic capacities and their responses to environmental stimuli. Although a general understanding of the factors responsible for adipogenic transformation has been achieved, much is not understood about the mechanisms of adipose tissue deposition and the phenotypes of the adipocytes found within each depot. A clue to the factors regulating fat deposition may come from studies of adipogenesis using primary human orbital fibroblasts from patients with thyroid eye disease, a condition in which intense inflammation leads to expansion of orbital adipose tissue via differentiation of fibroblasts to adipocytes. We have previously demonstrated that adipogenesis of orbital fibroblasts is negatively correlated with cellular expression of the Thy-1 surface marker. In this study, we developed a novel imaging flow cytometric approach for the assessment of adipogenesis to test the hypothetical dependence of adipogenic potential on lack of Thy-1 expression. Using this technique, we learned that Thy-1-positive fibroblasts are, in fact, capable of differentiating into adipocytes but are less likely to do so because they secrete a paracrine anti-adipogenic factor. It is possible that such a factor plays an important role in the prevention of excess fat deposition in the normal orbit and may even be exploited as a therapy for the treatment of obesity, a major worldwide health concern.