Multipotent Stromal Cells from Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue of Normal Weight and Obese Subjects: Modulation of Their Adipogenic Differentiation by Adenosine A 1 Receptor Ligands.

Adenosine A 1 receptor (A 1 R) activation, stimulating lipogenesis and decreasing insulin resistance, could be useful for metabolic syndrome management in obese subjects. Since full A 1 R agonists induce harmful side-effects, while partial agonists show a better pharmacological profile, we investigated the influence of two derivatives of the full A 1 R agonist 2-chloro- N 6 -cyclopentyladenosine (CCPA), C1 and C2 behaving as A 1 R partial agonists in animal models, on the adipogenic differentiation of stromal/stem cells (ASCs) from human subcutaneous adipose tissue, which mainly contribute to increase fat mass in obesity. The ASCs from normal-weight subjects showed increased proliferation and A 1 R expression but reduced adipogenic differentiation compared to obese individual-derived ASCs. Cell exposure to CCPA, C1, C2 or DPCPX, an A 1 R antagonist, did not affect ASC proliferation, while mainly C2 and DPCPX significantly decreased adipogenic differentiation of both ASC types, reducing the activity of glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase and the expression of PPARγ and FABP-4, all adipogenic markers, and phosphorylation of Akt in the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase pathway, which plays a key-role in adipogenesis. While requiring confirmation in in vivo models, our results suggest that A 1 R partial agonists or antagonists, by limiting ASC differentiation into adipocytes and, thereby, fat mass expansion, could favor development/worsening of metabolic syndrome in obese subjects without a dietary control.