Dermal Adipose Tissue Has High Plasticity And Undergoes Reversible Dedifferentiation In Mice

September 2019 in “ Journal of Clinical Investigation ”

Zhuzhen Zhang, Mengle Shao, Chelsea Hepler, Zhenzhen Zi, Shangang Zhao, Yu An, Yi Zhu, Alexandra L. Ghaben, Li Wang, Na Li, Toshiharu Onodera, Nolwenn Joffin, Clair Crewe, Qingzhang Zhu, Lavanya Vishvanath, Ashwani Kumar, Chao Xing, Qiong Wang, Laurent Gautron, Yingfeng Deng, Ruth Gordillo, Ilja L. Kruglikov, Christine M. Kusminski, Rana K. Gupta, Philipp E. Scherer

dermal adipose tissue dWAT dedifferentiation fibroblast-like cells adipocyte progenitor-like cells mature adipocytes hair follicle cycling wound healing skin homeostasis alopecia fibrosis single-cell RNA sequencing in vivo proliferation assays skin fat hair loss skin health

TLDR Dermal adipose tissue in mice can change and revert to help with skin health.

The study demonstrated that dermal adipose tissue (dWAT) in mice exhibited high plasticity, undergoing reversible dedifferentiation into fibroblast-like and adipocyte progenitor-like cells, which could then redifferentiate back into mature adipocytes. This plasticity was crucial for hair follicle cycling, wound healing, and skin homeostasis. The findings suggested that dWAT played a significant role in skin health and could be a potential target for therapeutic strategies in conditions like alopecia and fibrosis. The research was supported by various experiments, including single-cell RNA sequencing and in vivo proliferation assays, involving multiple groups of mice.

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