ADIPOSE TISSUE

1B H-06
Dr. Bernal
September 2018

ADIPOCYTES
TOPIC OUTLINE

I. WHITE ADIPOSE TISSUE

 Large cells that specialize in concentrating
a. Storage & Mobilization of Lipids triglycerides as lipid droplets
b. Histogenesis of White Adipose Tissue  Occur in large aggregates in adipose tissue but
II. BROWN ADIPOSE TISSUE typically found in isolates or small groups within
a. Function of Brown Adipocytes
loose or dense irregular connective tissue
b. Histogenesis of Brown Adipose Tissue
 Individually surrounded by a thin external
lamina containing type IV collagen
ADIPOSE TISSUE
Two Types of Adipose Tissue
1. White adipose tissue
 Connective tissue in which ADIPOCYTES (fat- – more common type specialized for fat storage
storing cells) predominate – consists of cells each containing one large
 Represents 15-20% of the body weight in men, cytoplasmic droplet of whitish-yellow fat
somewhat more in women
 Serves as storage depots for neutral fats, chiefly 2. Brown adipose tissue
triglycerides – contains cells with multiple lipid droplets
 Key regulators of the body’s overall energy interspersed among abundant mitochondria,
metabolism which gives a darker appearance
 Now recognized as an endocrine organ at the – Brown adipocytes release heat and function to
center of nutritional homeostasis wherein warm the blood
adipocytes release hormones and other important
substances WHITE ADIPOSE TISSUE
 Conducts heat poorly and provides thermal WHITE ADIPOCYTES
insulation for the body
 Fills spaces between other tissues, helping keep  Specialized for relative long-term energy storage
organs in place  Spherical when isolated but are polyhedral when
 Have a rich blood supply closely packed in situ
 Between 50 and 150 μm in diameter
 Subcutaneous layers of adipose tissue  Contains a single huge droplet of lipid filling
 help shape the body surface almost the entire cell
 cushion regions subject to repeated mechanical  Also called UNILOCULAR (single large
stress (palms, heels, toe pads) droplets of triglycerides)

Two properties of triglyceride lipids (which explains  Because lipid is removed from cells by xylene or
their selection as the preferred form of nutrient storage): other solvents used in routine histological
techniques, unilocular adipocytes are often empty in
1. Insoluble in water – lipids can be concentrated standard light microscopy
with no adverse osmotic effect on cells
2. Caloric density of triglycerides (9.3 kcal/g) –  The cells are sometimes said to have a signet-ring
twice that of proteins and carbohydrates making appearance, with the lipid droplet displacing and
them the most efficient means of storing calories flattening the nucleus against the cell membrane

1|Page
H-06 ADIPOSE TISSUE
 This thin rim of cytoplasm that remains after
Storage & Mobilization of Lipids
dissolution of the stored lipid may shrink, collapse,
or rupture, distorting cell and tissue structure White adipocytes can store triglycerides derived from
three sources:
Osmium Tetroxide 1) Dietary fats brought to the cells via the
– Fixative used to preserve lipid circulation as chylomicrons,
– Stains lipids black 2) Lipids synthesized in the liver and transported in
blood with very-low-density lipoproteins
Smaller adipocytes NOT unilocular, having many lipid (VLDLs)
droplets of various sizes in white fat represent: 3) Free fatty acids and glycerol synthesized by the
i. those in which differentiation is incomplete adipocytes.
ii. a small subpopulation of beige cells with brown
fat-forming potential  Lipids are mobilized from adipocytes by hormone-
sensitive lipase activated by norepinephrine
Medical Importance released from the adrenal gland and various peptide
 Lipomas – benign adipose tumors that are hormones
relatively common
 Liposarcomas – malignant adipose tumors that
occur infrequently
 Hibernomas – fetal lipomas of brown fat

Most cytoplasmic organelles in a white adipocyte are

near the peripheral nucleus including:
– Mitochondria
– a small Golgi apparatus
– a few cisternae of RER
– free polyribosomes.

The thin, submembranous layer of cytoplasm

surrounding the lipid droplet contains
– cisternae of smooth ER (SER)
– pinocytotic vesicles Histogenesis of White Adipose Tissue
Intermediate filament of VIMENTIN
– reinforces the lipid droplet-cytoplasm interface i. Triglycerides are transported by blood and
lymph from the intestine and liver in lipoprotein
Connective tissue containing a vascular bed and nerve complexes known as chylomicrons and VLDLs
network – subdivide white fat into lobules of various
sizes ii. In the capillary endothelial cells of adipose
tissue, these complexes are partly broken down
Reticular fibers – form a fine interwoven network that by lipoprotein lipase, releasing free fatty acids
supports individual fat cells and binds them together and glycerol

iii. The free fatty acids diffuse from the capillary

 The color of freshly dissected white adipose tissue
into the adipocyte, where they are reesterified to
depends on the DIET, varying from white to yellow
glycerol phosphate, forming triglycerides that
with the amount of CAROTENOIDS dissolved in
are stored in the lipid droplet until needed
the lipid
iv. Norepinephrine from nerve endings stimulates
the cyclic AMP (cAMP) system, which
activates hormone-sensitive lipase to hydrolyze
the stored triglycerides to free fatty acids and
glycerol

2|Page
H-06 ADIPOSE TISSUE
v. These substances diffuse into the capillary, OBESITY - Excessive adipose tissue accumulation,
where the fatty acids bind albumin for transport which occurs when nutritional intake exceeds energy
throughout the body as an energy source. expenditure

Insulin o Adult-Onset Obesity mainly involve increasing

– stimulates glucose uptake by adipocytes the size of existing adipocytes (hypertrophy)
– accelerates glucose conversion into triglycerides o Childhood Obesity often involves increases in
– stimulates production of lipoprotein lipase both adipocyte size and numbers due to the
differentiation of more preadipocytes from
Leptin – a polypeptide hormone with target cells in the mesenchymal cells (hyperplasia).
hypothalamus that is released from white adipocytes and o Weight loss after dietary changes is due to
helps regulate eating behavior. reductions in adipocyte volume, but not their
overall number
Development of White and Brown Fat Cells
BROWN ADIPOSE TISSUE

 slightly smaller and contain many small lipid

droplets and central spherical nuclei
 color is due to both the very abundant
mitochondria and the large number of blood
capillaries in this tissue
 Brown adipocytes contain many small lipid
inclusions and are therefore called
MULTILOCULAR
 principal function is heat production and
warming the blood by nonshivering
thermogenesis

 Nerve impulses liberate norepinephrine into brown

adipose tissue and activates the hormone-sensitive
Mesenchymal stem cells differentiate as progenitor cells lipase of adipocytes, promoting hydrolysis of
for PREADIPOCYTES triglycerides to fatty acids and glycerol

Two types of preadipocytes for white adipose tissue:  Fatty acids released are metabolized in mitochondria
a) developing within the lateral mesoderm of the of these cells for thermogenesis rather than ATP
embryo which produces white adipocytes synthesis, using uncoupling protein-1 or
b) small beige adipocytes with cytological features THERMOGENIN
and gene expression patterns of both white and
brown adipocytes Histogenesis of Brown Adipose Tissue

 Brown adipocytes differentiate from another  Brown fat is maximal relative to body weight at
population of preadipocytes located in paraxial birth, when thermogenesis is most needed
embryonic mesoderm and remain multilocular with  The amount and activity of brown fat are higher in
numerous mitochondria lean individuals
 The number of brown adipocytes increases during
 Mitochondrial metabolism of lipid in brown cold adaptation
adipocytes releases heat rather than ATP  This increase involves the reversible shift of beige
cells to functional brown adipocytes
 Cells functioning as brown adipocytes can also  Autonomic nerves also promote brown adipocyte
develop from beige adipocytes during adaptation to differentiation and prevent apoptosis in mature
cold temperatures brown fat cells

3|Page