Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) act as an effective transitory resource for producing cells of mesodermal origin like adipocytes, osteocytes, and chondrocytes, which could be further used for modeling their respective genetic disorders. However, previous approaches relied on attaining these MSCs from adult tissues1, which imposed the challenge of obtaining them in high numbers from the donors, and the limitation of keeping them functionally viable in suboptimal in vitro culture conditions1,2. These obstacles have produced a great demand of having a protocol for generating MSCs in vitro. Human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) can be used as a valuable source of MSCs, exhibiting MSC characteristics3,4,5. iPSCs-derived MSCs can be used as a therapeutic option in several diseases. Also, the ability of iPSCs-derived MSCs to generate adipocytes, makes them a valuable in vitro human model to study human adipogenesis, obesity, and adipocyte-associated disorders.
Current differentiation protocols of adipocytes can be classified into two groups, with one involving differentiation of adipocytes using chemical or protein-based cocktails giving a resultant yield of 30%-60%6,7,8,9, while the other involving genetic manipulation for robust induction of key transcription factors governing adipocytes development to give a yield of 80%-90%10,11. However, genetic manipulation doesn't recapitulate the natural process of adipocyte differentiation, and often masks the subtle paradigms arriving during adipogenesis, making it ineffective for disease modeling purposes12,13. Therefore, we present a way to sort chemically derived mature adipocytes from immature ones by fluorescently tagging lipid-bearing adipocytes using Nile red.
Here we present a protocol involving transient incubation of iPSCs derived embryoid bodies (EBs) with all-trans retinoic acid to produce a high number of rapidly proliferating MSCs, which could be further used for generating adipocytes14. We also present a way to sort chemically derived mature adipocytes from the heterogeneous differentiation pool by fluorescently tagging their lipid droplets using a lipophilic dye; Nile red. This would allow the generation of a pure population of mature adipocytes with enhanced functionality to accurately model adipocyte-associated metabolic disorders.