Adipogenic fate commitment of muscle-derived progenitor cells: isolation, culture, and differentiation

Skeletal muscle harbors several types of cells, among which a population of progenitors committed to the adipogenic lineage has only recently been identified. Potential sources of white and brown adipocytes, the latter representing a potential target to treat obesity, are of considerable interest to the field. Fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) provides an elegant strategy for prospective isolation of closely defined cell populations. Here we describe a flow cytometric method to isolate muscle-resident adipogenic progenitor cells with a default potential to undergo white adipogenesis. We further describe an approach to induce commitment to a lineage of brown-like adipocytes upon exposure to bone morphogenetic protein 7 (BMP7).