Comprehensive Proteomic\nProfiling of Converted Adipocyte-like Cells from Normal Human Dermal\nFibroblasts Using Data-Independent Acquisition Mass Spectrometry

Adipocytes play an important role\nin the regulation of\nsystemic energy homeostasis and are closely related to metabolic disorders,\nsuch as type-2 diabetes and inflammatory bowel diseases. Particularly,\nthere is an increasing need for a human adipocyte model for studying\nmetabolic diseases and obesity. However, utilizing human primary adipocyte\nculture and stem-cell-based models presents several practical limitations\ndue to their time-consuming nature, requirement for relatively intensive\nlabor, and high cost. Here, we applied direct conversion of normal\nhuman dermal fibroblasts (NHDFs) into adipocyte-like cells using an\nadipogenic cocktail containing 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine (IBMX),\ndexamethasone, insulin, and rosiglitazone and confirmed prominent\nlipid droplet accumulation in the converted cells. For profiling the\nproteome changes in the converted cells, we conducted a comprehensive\nquantitative proteome analysis of both the intracellular and extracellular\nproteome fractions using data-independent acquisition mass spectrometry.\nWe observed that several proteins, which are known to be highly expressed\nin adipocytes specifically, were dominantly increased in the converted\ncells. In this study, we suggest that NHDFs can be converted into\nadipocyte-like cells by an adipogenic cocktail and can serve as a\nuseful tool for studying human adipocytes and their metabolism.