Altered adipocyte differentiation and unbalanced autophagy in type 2 Familial Partial Lipodystrophy: an in vitro and in vivo study of adipose tissue browning

Abstract

Fat tissue disorders: Dysfunctional fat cell differentiation An abnormal distribution of fatty tissues associated with certain tissue disorders is driven by disrupted fat cell differentiation. Type 2 familial partial lipodystrophy (FPLD2) is a genetic condition that results in fat being lost from the limbs and accumulating in the face and neck. Giovanna Lattanzi at the National Research Council of Italy in Bologna and co-workers found that fat cell (adipocyte) precursors did not clearly differentiate into either of the two main fatty tissue types, brown or white, in FPLD2 patients. White adipocyte precursors exhibited impaired lipid formation and abnormal levels of brown tissue markers. Conversely, brown adipocyte precursors showed high lipid levels and increased autophagy, a natural process involving degradation and recycling of cellular components. The neck is normally where brown fat accumulates, but FPLD2 patients had adipocytes there displaying white fat characteristics.