Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Little is known about the regulation of apoptosis in the adipocyte. Using the 3T3-L1 cell model of adipogenesis, we investigated whether induction of apoptosis by serum-starvation is differentiation-specific.
METHODS: Apoptosis was assessed by phase-contrast microscopy, Hoechst staining and DNA fragmentation. Protein expression levels were evaluated by immunoblot analysis.
RESULTS: Following serum deprivation, Hoechst staining revealed chromatin condensation and formation of apoptotic bodies in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes, but not in differentiated adipocytes. Similarly, although cell cultures of serum-starved 3T3-L1 preadipocytes displayed extensive apoptotic DNA fragmentation, this was barely detectable for cell cultures subjected to differentiation medium, in which 70–90% of the cells had assumed the mature phenotype. Consistent with the ability of the adipocytes to resist apoptosis, immunoblot analysis revealed that differentiated cell cultures expressed Bcl-2 and the endonuclease DNase I at higher and lower levels, respectively.
CONCLUSION: Expression of cell survival genes is modulated during 3T3-L1 adipocyte differentiation, potentially contributing to the state of resistance to apoptosis observed for mature 3T3-L1 adipocytes upon growth factor deprivation.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Magun, R., Boone, D., Tsang, B. et al. The effect of adipocyte differentiation on the capacity of 3T3-L1 cells to undergo apoptosis in response to growth factor deprivation. Int J Obes 22, 567–571 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0800626
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0800626
Keywords
This article is cited by
-
Isoliquiritigenin Attenuates Adipose Tissue Inflammation in vitro and Adipose Tissue Fibrosis through Inhibition of Innate Immune Responses in Mice
Scientific Reports (2016)
-
Decrease of apoptosis markers during adipogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells from human adipose tissue
Apoptosis (2013)
-
Macrophage-conditioned medium inhibits the differentiation of 3T3-L1 and human abdominal preadipocytes
Diabetologia (2006)
-
Adipose Depletion and Apoptosis Induced by Trans-10, Cis-12 Conjugated Linoleic Acid in Mice*
Obesity Research (2002)
-
Conjugated linoleic acid suppresses triglyceride accumulation and induces apoptosis in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes
Lipids (2000)