PDGFA Regulation of Dermal Adipocyte Stem Cells
September 2017
in “
Stem cell investigation
”
TLDR PDGF signaling is crucial for maintaining fat stem cells in the skin, and its level of activation can either preserve these cells or cause fibrosis.
The 2017 research studied the role of PDGF signaling in maintaining adipocyte stem cells (ASCs) in the skin's dermal white adipose tissue (dWAT). The study found that without PDGFRα expression, ASCs in the skin were not maintained. When adipocyte precursors were treated with PDGFA, pro-proliferative genes were expressed through the PI3K/AKT pathway activation. The research also found that diminished dWAT and low ASC numbers in aged wild-type and Pdgfa cKO mice indicated the importance of PDGF signaling for normal adipose tissue maintenance in the skin. The study suggested that the level of receptor activation might determine the biological response, either maintaining ASCs or inducing fibrosis, and the tissue's physiological context might also influence the outcome of PDGFRα activation.
