Adipogenesis is the biological process that controls the development of adipocytes, and is one of the most well studied models of cellular differentiation. In the last decade the study of regulation of human adipogenesis was useful to understand this process, in order to reduce disease such as obesity and diabetes. Prox1 is a transcription factor related to Drosophila Prospero homeobox gene, that plays a major role in the development of central nervous system, liver and pancreas. Prox1 is one of the genes that control the embryonic development and differentiation of the lymphatic system. In this study we decided to analyze the gene expression of Prox-1 in fragments of human adipose tissue (subcutaneous and omental) and in human adipocytes isolated from omental and subcutaneous tissue. Our results show Prox-1 is always expressed in adipose tissue and overexpressed in omental adipocytes compared with subcutaneous adipocytes. These preliminary observations confirm a strong correlation of blood vessel development and adipogenesis.
© 2014 International Federation for Cell Biology.