Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase Expression Marks a Population of Rare Adipose Tissue Stem Cells

Area of Science:

• Stem cell biology
• Adipose tissue biology
• Metabolic research

Background:

• Adult tissues contain resident stem cells that can differentiate into specialized cells.
• Mouse telomerase reverse transcriptase (mTert) expression is a key marker for identifying stem cell populations.
• Understanding adipose stem cells is crucial for metabolic health and obesity research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and characterize tissue-resident stem cells in adult adipose tissue.
• To investigate the self-renewal and differentiation potential of mTert-expressing cells in fat depots.
• To determine the impact of high-fat diet on adipose stem cell behavior in vivo.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a doxycycline-inducible mouse model for longitudinal, live-animal lineage tracing of mTert-expressing cells over one year.
• Quantified mTert-positive cells and assessed their expression of preadipocyte markers.
• Evaluated the self-renewal and adipogenic potential of isolated adipose-derived stem cells.
• Administered high-fat diet (HFD) to observe in vivo differentiation of these stem cells.

Main Results:

• Identified a rare (<2%) population of adipose stem cells expressing putative preadipocyte markers across different fat depots.
• Demonstrated that these adipose-derived mTert-positive cells possess self-renewal capacity and adipogenic potential.
• Showed that high-fat diet induces differentiation of these stem cells in vivo, contributing to depot-specific responses.

Conclusions:

• A novel population of adipose stem cells has been identified and characterized.
• These stem cells play a significant role in the adaptive response of adipose tissue to metabolic challenges like high-fat diet.
• This discovery provides new insights into adipose tissue plasticity and its regulation in obesity and metabolic diseases.