Obesity has long been linked with prostate cancer progression, although the underlying mechanism is still largely unknown. Here, we report that adipocytes promote the enrichment of prostate cancer stem cells (CSCs) through a vicious cycle of autocrine amplification. In the presence of adipocytes, prostate cancer cells actively secrete the peptide hormone cholecystokinin (CCK), which not only st...

BACKGROUND Spontaneous peritonitis is a rather rare event, even in peritoneal dialysis (PD). As defensins are natural antimicrobial peptides, we hypothesized that adipocytes as the major constituents of the omentum could play an important role in protecting against infection by generating defensin (DEFA1-3). METHODS We isolated adipocytes from the omentum majus and conducted qualitative and q...

Beige/brite adipocytes are induced within white adipose tissues (WAT) and, when activated, consume glucose and fatty acids to produce heat. Classically, two stimuli have been used to trigger a beiging response: cold temperatures and β3-adrenergic receptor (Adrb3) agonists. These two beiging triggers have been used interchangeably but whether these two stimuli may induce beiging differently at c...

BACKGROUND A reliable method with which to assay viability and number of adipocytes and other cellular components in adipose tissue remains to be established. METHODS The authors assessed cell viability and number obtained from 1 g of suctioned adipose tissue and respective layers (the top, middle, and bottom layers) before and after digestion and centrifugation, using cell staining with Hoec...

Adipose tissue mass in mammals is thought to expand with an increase in both volume and total number of the adipocytes. Recent findings suggest that in normal-weight as well as obese individuals, the adipocyte number is set during adolescence prior to adulthood, whereas the subsequent increase in size predominantly drives obesity. The simultaneous existence of large and small adipocytes and the...

The hair follicle is a complex mini-organ that undergoes continuous cycles of growth and regeneration. Hair cycling depends on tightly coordinated crosstalk between epithelial cells, fibroblasts, immune adipocytes. Recent studies demonstrated in addition to metabolic dysregulation neurocognitive impairment, mice are genetically deficient leptin (ob/ob) or its receptor (db/db) exhibit prolonged ...

To address a role of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) in the regulation of glucose transport, we made a constitutively active mutant of MAPK kinase (MAPKK) and introduced it into 3T3-L1 preadipocytes by using a retrovirus-mediated transfection procedure. The deletion of 20 amino acids (those between and including 32 and 51) in the amino terminal region of Xenopus MAPKK and the replacemen...

BACKGROUND Obesity promotes inflammation in adipose tissue (AT) and this is implicated in pathophysiological complications such as insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Although based on the classical hypothesis, necrotic AT adipocytes (ATA) in obese state activate AT macrophages (ATM) that then lead to a sustained chronic inflammation in AT, the link between human adi...

Studies comparing adipose tissue metabolism in central versus peripheral fat depots have generated equivocal data. We examined whether regional differences in abdominal subcutaneous and omental adipose tissue metabolism in women exist and whether they persist across the spectrum of body fatness and abdominal adiposity values. We measured adipocyte size; lipoprotein lipase (LPL) activity; and ba...

Bone morphogenetic protein 9 (BMP9) possesses multiple functions, but its effects on breast cancer cells in adipose microenvironment are still unclear. This study aimed to investigate whether BMP9 is able to modulate the interaction between pre-adipocytes/adipocytes and breast cancer cells. An in vitro co-culture system was established by using pre-adipocytes/adipocytes and MDA-MB-231 breast ca...