A team of researchers from the Perelman University School of Medicine at Sylphania University has discovered three types of fat cell precursors related to human obesity. In a paper published in the journal Science, the research team described the research and discovery of the formation of new fat cells from the precursor cells of adipose tissue. Chau and Cawthorn said that storing fat in the body during difficult economic times can not only store extra energy, but also store human organs through the accumulation of ectopic fat, which may cause damage.
He pointed out that this is also a method of protection. They also pointed out that scientists hope to fight obesity by better understanding the accumulation of fat in the body. Previous research has shown that there are two ways to increase fat. One is to increase the number of fat cells, and the other is to increase the number of fat cells. The former causes obesity, while the latter helps prevent obesity. Scientists also know that fat expansion depends on the precursor cells living in adipose tissue to produce new fat cells. Previous studies have also shown that adipose tissue has different types of adipocyte progenitor cells (APC), but so far, their role in fat expansion is unclear. In this new study, the researchers discovered that three new APCs play a role in the development of obesity.
In order to find the newly discovered APC, researchers had to use a new technology called fluorescence activated cell sorting-which can separate fat cells based on specific proteins in the fat cells. After this work was completed, the research team ran a single-cell RNA sequence that divided cells into different groups based on similarity. The researchers report that most of the cells they are studying belong to one of three unknown cell groups: mesenchymal progenitor cells, preadipocytes, and the third group of cells.
After taking out the cells of each group, separating and culturing the cells, it was found from the culture results that these cells formed fat cells. The researchers suggest that more research on newly defined members of the APC class can reveal new ways to combat obesity by promoting the increase in the number of fat cells instead of the increase in fat size.