Deconstructing adipogenesis induced by β3-Adrenergic receptor activation with single-cell expression profiling
Open accessAbstract
Recruitment of brown/beige adipocytes (BAs) in white adipose tissue (WAT) involves proliferation and differentiation of adipocyte stem cells (ASCs) in concert with close interactions with resident immune cells. To deconvolve stromal cell heterogeneity in a comprehensive and unbiased fashion, we performed single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) of >33,000 stromal/vascular cells from epididymal WAT (eWAT) and inguinal WAT (iWAT) under control conditions and during β3-adrenergic receptor (ADRB3) activation. scRNA-seq identified distinct ASC subpopulations in eWAT and iWAT that appeared to be differentially poised to enter the adipogenic pathway. ADRB3 activation triggered the dramatic appearance of proliferating ASCs in eWAT, whose differentiation into BAs could be inferred from a single time point. scRNA-seq identified various immune cell types in eWAT, including a proliferating macrophage subpopulation that occupies adipogenic niches. These results demonstrate the power of scRNA-seq to deconstruct adipogenic niches and suggest novel functional interactions among resident stromal cell subpopulations.
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scRNA-seq has been used to characterize dynamics of cell populations underlying adipose tissue remodeling, focusing on cell types within stromal vascular fractions, particularly preadipocytes.
“scRNA-seq has been used to characterize the dynamics of cell populations underlying adipose tissue remodeling, with a focus on the cell types within stromal vascular fractions, particularly preadipocytes (Schwalie et al., 2018; Burl et al., 2018; Hepler et al., 2018; Merrick et al., 2019).”
From Robust single-nucleus RNA sequencing reveals depot-specific cell population dynamics in adipose tissue remodeling during obesity (2025) · cites this paper as Burl et al., 2018
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- Authors
- Burl, R. B., Ramseyer, V. D., Rondini, E. A., Pique-Regi, R., Lee, Y.-H., & Granneman, J. G.
- Affiliations
- Wayne State University (US)
- Yonsei University (KR)
- Corresponding author
- Granneman, James G.
- Venue
- Cell Metabolism
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2018-08
- Volume
- 28
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 300-309.e4
- ISSN
- 1550-4131 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6082711
- OpenAlex
- W2809310576
- Cited by
- 332
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2026: 12 · 2025: 31 · 2024: 38 · 2023: 49 · 2022: 63 · 2021: 52 · 2020: 55 · 2019: 28 · 2018: 3
- FWCI
- 23.72
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Cell Metabolism (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- NIH (RO1DK62292, RO1DK102455, 1R01GM109215)
- Wayne State University
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Adipose Tissue and Metabolism
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Single-cell and spatial transcriptomics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Adipokines, Inflammation, and Metabolic Diseases
- Keywords
- adipogenesis, beta3-adrenergic receptor, brown adipocytes, beige adipocytes, stromal vascular cells, white adipose tissue, epididymal adipose tissue, inguinal adipose tissue, macrophages, single-cell RNA sequencing, cellular heterogeneity
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Male, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Stem Cells, Stromal Cells, Sequence Analysis, RNA, Receptors, Adrenergic, beta-3, Cell Proliferation, Adipogenesis, Mice, Adipose Tissue, White, Single-Cell Analysis, Transcriptome
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