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Method Article

White and Brown Adipose Depot Collection from Mouse Pup: A Surgical Procedure to Harvest the White Adipose Tissue and Brown Adipose Tissue from Mouse Pup

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July 8th, 2025

In This Article

Abstract

Source: Galmozzi, A. et al. Isolation and Differentiation of Primary White and Brown Preadipocytes from Newborn Mice. J. Vis. Exp. (2021)

In this video, we demonstrate the surgical procedure to isolate the subcutaneous white adipose tissue and interscapular brown adipose tissue from a newborn mouse.

Protocol

All procedures involving animal models have been reviewed by the local institutional animal care committee and the JoVE veterinary review board.

1. Collection and digestion of adipose depots (day 1)

  1. Prepare two 1.5 mL tubes for each pup: one for brown adipose tissue (BAT) and one for white adipose tissue (WAT). Add 250 µL of phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) + 200 µL of 2x isolation buffer (123 mM NaCl, 5 mM KCl, 1.3 mM CaCl2, 5 mM glucose, 100 mM 4-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1-piperazineethanesulfonic acid (HEPES), penicillin-streptomycin, and 4% fatty acid-free bovine serum albumin) to each tube. Keep....

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Results

WAT and BAT processing diagram, mouse samples, fat tissue analysis, microscopic cell results.
Figure 1: Collection and processing of fat pads. (A) Schematic representation of primary white (top) and brown (bottom) adipocyte isolation. (B) Subcutaneous white (top) and brown (bottom) adipose depots. In P0 mice, subcutane.......

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Disclosures

No conflicts of interest declared.

Materials

List of materials used in this article
NameCompanyCatalog NumberComments
6-well platesCorning353046
Fatty Acid-Free BSASigma-AldrichA8806
CaCl<sub>2</sub>Sigma-AldrichC4901
GlucoseSigma-AldrichG7021
HEPESSigma-AldrichH3375
KClSigma-AldrichP9333
NaClSigma-AldrichS7653
Pen/StrepGibco15140122
Surgical forcepsROBOZ Surgical Instrument CoRS-5158
Surgical ScissorsROBOZ Surgical Instrument CoRS-5880
DPBS, no calcium, no magnesium&nbsp;Gibco&nbsp;14190144

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