Open AccessRepressor transcription factor 7-like 1 promotes adipogenic competency in precursor cells
Author(s) -
Ana G. Cristancho,
Michael Schupp,
Martina I. Lefterova,
Shengya Cao,
Daniel M. Cohen,
Christopher Chen,
David J. Steger,
Mitchell A. Lazar
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.1109409108
Subject(s) - adipogenesis , microbiology and biotechnology , transcription factor , repressor , adipocyte , biology , ectopic expression , chemistry , cell culture , gene , biochemistry , adipose tissue , genetics , mesenchymal stem cell
The identification of factors that define adipocyte precursor potential has important implications for obesity. Preadipocytes are fibroblastoid cells committed to becoming round lipid-laden adipocytes. In vitro, this differentiation process is facilitated by confluency, followed by adipogenic stimuli. During adipogenesis, a large number of cytostructural genes are repressed before adipocyte gene induction. Here we report that the transcriptional repressor transcription factor 7-like 1 (TCF7L1) binds and directly regulates the expression of cell structure genes. Depletion of TCF7L1 inhibits differentiation, because TCF7L1 indirectly induces the adipogenic transcription factor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ in a manner that can be replaced by inhibition of myosin II activity. TCF7L1 is induced by cell contact in adipogenic cell lines, and ectopic expression of TCF7L1 alleviates the confluency requirement for adipocytic differentiation of precursor cells. In contrast, TCF7L1 is not induced during confluency of non-adipogenic fibroblasts, and, remarkably, forced expression of TCF7L1 is sufficient to commit non-adipogenic fibroblasts to an adipogenic fate. These results establish TCF7L1 as a transcriptional hub coordinating cell–cell contact with the transcriptional repression required for adipogenic competency.