Significant Alterations in Phospholipid Content and Composition Contributing to Metabolic Dysfunction in ADMSC-Derived Adipocytes

Adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADMSCs) are a crucial source of new adipocytes and play a significant role in regulating adipose tissue physiology. Interestingly, mature adipocytes differentiated from the ADMSCs maintain some characteristic features of their respective depots as well as the metabolic status of the donor patients. The above is true with respect to the cells’ secretory profile and their glycerolipid and sphingolipid composition. In the current paper, we focused our attention on the phospholipid profile of the adipocytes derived from ADMSCs, with a particular emphasis placed on how obesity and metabolic syndrome affect their composition. Surprisingly, the cells displayed a significantly greater (even up to 10-fold) overall phospholipid concentration when compared with the primary human adipocytes described in the literature. The phenomenon may be explained by a geometrical property known as surface-to-volume ratio, which dictates that the total surface area of many small cells (our adipocytes) is greater than the total area of less numerous but more voluminous cells in vivo. Interestingly, also a donor’s metabolic status can influence the characteristics of these fat cells. The study found that subcutaneous adipocytes, when derived from patients with obesity and metabolic syndrome, had an increased concentration of phosphatidylcholine (PC), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), phosphatidylinositol (PI), and sphingomyelin (SM). The above-mentioned changes often reflect the ones found in vivo and may well be the early metabolic disarrangements that occur in the progress of obesity.