Progenitor cells from brown adipose tissue undergo neurogenic differentiation

Multipotent cells derived from white adipose tissue have been shown to differentiate into multiple lineages including neurogenic lineages. However, the high innervation of brown adipose tissue by the sympathetic nervous system suggest it might be a better source of neural precursor cells. To investigate potential differences between white and brown progenitors, we cultured white and brown dedifferentiated fat (wDFAT and brDFAT) cells from mouse and human adipose tissue and compared marker expression of neural precursors, and neuronal and glial cells, using fluorescence-activated cell sorting, bright-field imaging, immunofluorescence, and RNA analysis by qPCR. The results showed that both wDFAT and brDFAT cells had the capacity to generate neuronal and glial-like cells under neurogenic conditions. However, the brDFAT cells exhibited enhanced propensity for neurogenic differentiation. The neurogenic cells were at least in part derived from Adiponectin-expressing cells. TdTomato-expressing cells derived from Adiponectin (Adipoq) Cre (ERT2) -tdTomato (flox/flox) mice gave rise to individual cells and cell clusters with neurogenic characteristics. Moreover, human brDFAT cells demonstrated a similar ability to undergo neurogenic differentiation after treatment with neurogenic medium, as assessed by immunofluorescence and qPCR. Together, our results support that brDFAT cells have ability to undergo neurogenic differentiation.