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. 2012 Feb 2:3:13.
doi: 10.3389/fendo.2012.00013. eCollection 2012.

PAZ6 cells constitute a representative model for human brown pre-adipocytes

Melissa Kazantzis  1 , Virginia Takahashi, Jessica Hinkle, Smitha Kota, Vladimir Zilberfarb, Tarik Issad, Mouaadh Abdelkarim, Lotfi Chouchane, Arthur Donny Strosberg
Affiliations

PAZ6 cells constitute a representative model for human brown pre-adipocytes

Melissa Kazantzis et al. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). .

Abstract

The role of brown adipose tissue (BAT) in human metabolism and its potential as an anti-obesity target organ have recently received much renewed attention. Following radiological detection of substantial amounts of BAT in adults by several independent research groups, an increasing number of studies are now dedicated to uncover BAT's genetic, developmental, and environmental determinants. In contrast to murine BAT, human BAT is not present as a single major fat depot in a well-defined location. The distribution of BAT in several areas in the body significantly limits its availability to research. A human brown adipocyte cell line is therefore critical in broadening the options available to researchers in the field. The human BAT-cell line PAZ6 was created to address such a need and has been well characterized by several research groups around the world. In the present review, we discuss their findings and propose potential applications of the PAZ6 cells in addressing the relevant questions in the BAT field, namely for future use in therapeutic applications.

Keywords: PAZ6 cells; brown adipocytes; cell lines; obesity.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Expression of the UCP1 gene in PAZ6 pre-adipocytes and adipocytes. PAZ6 cells were differentiated as described in the legend of Figure 1. (a) RT-PCR analysis of the UCP gene expression: lane 1, PAZ6 pre-adipocytes; lane 2; PAZ6 differentiated adipocytes; lane 3; PAZ6 differentiated adipocytes incubated with 10–5 M norepinephrine for 4 h; lane 4, positive control: human brown adipose tissue from a patient with pheochromocytoma; + and − symbols indicate the presence or absence of reverse transcriptase. Each lane contained 200 ng total RNA. Size of the amplification product: 498 base pairs. cDNAs were amplified for 33 cycles (Zilberfarb et al., 1997).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Multilocular lipid accumulation in PAZ6 adipocytes upon differentiation. (A) PAZ6 pre-adipocytes in culture. (B) Differentiated PAZ6 adipocytes. Differentiation was carried out for 3 weeks in propagation medium supplemented with 1 nM T3, 850 nM insulin, 100 nM dexamethasone, and 1 μM pioglitazone (Zilberfarb et al., 1997).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Comparison of the expression of adipocytes markers during the course of differentiation of PAZ6 cells and human primary adipocytes from subcutaneous adipose tissue of the abdominal region. Cells were differentiated as described in the legend of Figure 1. The expression of adipocyte markers was evaluated by RT-PCR as described by Zilberfarb et al. (1997).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Effect of inhibition of p38 MAP kinase on the expression of adipocyte differentiation markers in PAZ6 cells. PAZ6 pre-adipocytes (Pread) were cultured during 1 week in differentiation medium containing or not of the p38 inhibitor SB2022190 (10 mM). mRNA was then extracted and the expression of adipocyte differentiation markers was evaluated by RT-PCR as described by Zilberfarb et al. (1997).
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