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Updated: May 13, 2026
An Adipocyte Cell Culture Model to Study the Impact of Protein and Micro-RNA Modulation on Adipocyte Function
Published on: May 4, 2021
MicroRNA regulation of adipose derived stem cells in aging rats
Jia Fei1, Holly Tamski, Carla Cook
1Department of Pharmacology, Physiology and Toxicology, Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, Marshall University, Huntington, West Virginia, United States of America.
Background:
Perturbations in abdominal fat secreted adipokines play a key role in metabolic syndrome. This process is further altered during the aging process, probably due to alterations in the preadipocytes (aka. stromal vascular fraction cells-SVF cells or adipose derived stem cells-ASCs) composition and/or function. Since microRNAs regulate genes involved both in development and aging processes, we hypothesized that the impaired adipose function with aging is due to altered microRNA regulation of adipogenic pathways in SVF cells.
Methodology And Principal Findings:
Alterations in mRNA and proteins associated with adipogenic differentiation (ERK5 and PPARg) but not osteogenic (RUNX2) pathways were observed in SVF cells isolated from visceral adipose tissue with aging (6 to 30 mo) in female Fischer 344 x Brown Norway Hybrid (FBN) rats. The impaired differentiation capacity with aging correlated with altered levels of miRNAs involved in adipocyte differentiation (miRNA-143) and osteogenic pathways (miRNA-204). Gain and loss of function studies using premir or antagomir-143 validated the age associated adipocyte dysfunction.
Conclusions And Significance:
Our studies for the first time indicate a role for miRNA mediated regulation of SVF cells with aging. This discovery is important in the light of the findings that dysfunctional adipose derived stem cells contribute to age related chronic diseases.
