Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Bone

Bone marrow adipocytes in 3D

Culturing bone marrow stromal cells on 3D silk scaffolds supports their proliferation and adipogenesis, while minimizing the activation of inflammatory pathways. Therefore, differentiation of bone marrow adipocytes in 3D culture might provide a more representative model for the study of bone marrow adipose tissue than is offered by traditional 2D cell cultures.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Scheller, E. L. et al. Inside out: bone marrow adipose tissue as a source of circulating adiponectin. Adipocyte 5, 251–269 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Cawthorn, W. P. et al. Bone marrow adipose tissue is an endocrine organ that contributes to increased circulating adiponectin during caloric restriction. Cell Metab. 20, 368–375 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Santander, A. M. et al. Paracrine interactions between adipocytes and tumor cells recruit and modify macrophages to the mammary tumor microenvironment: the role of obesity and inflammation in breast adipose tissue. Cancers (Basel) 7, 143–178 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Baker, B. M. & Chen, C. S. Deconstructing the third dimension: how 3D culture microenvironments alter cellular cues. J. Cell Sci. 125, 3015–3024 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Ravi, M. et al. 3D cell culture systems: advantages and applications. J. Cell. Physiol. 230, 16–26 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Krontiras, P., Gatenholm, P. & Hagg, D. A. Adipogenic differentiation of stem cells in three-dimensional porous bacterial nanocellulose scaffolds. J. Biomed. Mater. Res. B Appl. Biomater. 103, 195–203 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Emont, M. P. et al. Using a 3D culture system to differentiate visceral adipocytes in vitro. Endocrinology 156, 4761–4768 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Fairfield, H. et al. Development of a 3D bone marrow adipose tissue model. Bone https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bone.2018.01.023 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Alessandri, M. et al. Influence of biological matrix and artificial electrospun scaffolds on proliferation, differentiation and trophic factor synthesis of rat embryonic stem cells. Matrix Biol. 33, 68–76 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Robles, H. et al. Characterization of the bone marrow adipocyte niche with three-dimensional electron microscopy. Bone https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bone.2018.01.020 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors are supported by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) (R24 DK092759 and RO1 DK62876 to O.A.M.; T32 DK071212 to K.T.L.).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ormond A. MacDougald.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Lewis, K., MacDougald, O. Bone marrow adipocytes in 3D. Nat Rev Endocrinol 14, 254–255 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrendo.2018.31

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrendo.2018.31

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing