Temporal Observation of Adipocyte Microfiber Using Anchoring Device
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Updated: Jan 24, 2026

Robust Differentiation of Human iPSCs into a Pure Population of Adipocytes to Study Adipocyte-Associated Disorders
Published on: February 9, 2022
Akiyo Yokomizo1, Yuya Morimoto2,3, Keigo Nishimura4,5
1Center for International Research on Integrative Biomedical Systems (CIBiS), Institute of Industrial Science (IIS), The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8505, Japan. yokomizo@iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp.
Abstract:
In this paper, we propose an anchoring device with pillars to immobilize an adipocyte microfiber that has a fiber-shaped adipocyte tissue covered by an alginate gel shell. Because the device enabled the immobilization of the microfiber in a culture dish even after its transportation and the exchange of the culture medium, we can easily track the specific positions of the microfiber for a long period. Owing to the characteristics of the anchoring device, we successfully performed temporal observations of the microfiber on the device for a month to investigate the function and morphology of three-dimensional cultured adipocytes. Furthermore, to demonstrate the applicability of the anchoring device to drug testing, we evaluated the lipolysis of the microfiber's adipocytes by applying reagents with an anti-obesity effect. Therefore, we believe that the anchoring device with the microfiber will be a useful tool for temporal biochemical analyses.
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