Fig. 4

ASCs derived from sSAT microenvironment showed an accelerated adipogenesis compared with sRC and dSAT. A–C Representative images of adipogenic-induced ASCs derived from sSAT, sRC and dSAT microenvironments. The intracytoplasmic lipid accumulation were revealed by Nile Red O staining (red) and the nuclei by Hoechst (blue). Bar size: 50 μm. D, E The percentage of the area of lipid accumulation and the percentage of unilocular, multilocular and undifferentiated cells are expressed in the graphs as mean ± standard deviation. ASCs derived from sSAT showed the highest area of lipid accumulation together with the highest percentage of unilocular cells. F–I qPCR analysis of ASCs derived from sSAT, sRC and dSAT microenvironments revealed an upregulation of all evaluated genes in adipogenic-induced ASCs compared with non-induced. F PPARgamma; G FABP4; H ADIPOR1; I CEBPα. The gene expression of adipogenic-induced ASCs was relativized to the gene expression of non-induced (dashed line). The graphs represent the mean ± standard deviation. ANOVA test evaluated the difference between sSAT, sRC and dSAT microenvironments. p value is described below each graph. Asterisks indicate p values obtained in the post-test (*p < 0.05; **p < 0.001; ***p < 0.0005; ****p < 0.0001). ASCs adipose stromal/stem cells, SAT subcutaneous adipose tissue, sSAT superficial SAT, sRC retinacula cutis superficialis, dSAT deep SAT