Reply to: ‘Browning capabilities of human primary adipose-derived stromal cells compared to SGBS cells’
Chia Rou Yeo, Madhur Agrawal, Shawn Hoon, Asim Shabbir, Manu Shrivastava, Shiqi Huang, Chin Meng Khoo, Vanna Chhay, Muhammad Shabeer, E Shyong Tai, Antonio Vidal‐Puig, Sue‐Anne Toh
Abstract
Pharmacological browning/beiging of adipose tissue has the potential to be an important therapeutic strategy to combat obesity and associated co-morbidities. SGBS adipocytes are non-transformed primary human adipocytes with an ability to grow and differentiate up to 50 passages. Due to extended growth capacity when compared to other available primary human adipocytes, SGBS adipocytes are commonly used as a model for human adipose in in-vitro studies. Tews et al. reported equal browning capacity in SGBS adipocytes when compared with primary human adipocytes derived from the mammary region. Results in the manuscript appear to be discordant from findings in our previously published Scientific Reports paper: "SGBS cells as a model of human adipocyte browning: A comprehensive comparative study with primary human white subcutaneous adipocytes". We observed a more robust browning signature in SGBS adipocytes as compared to primary human adipocytes derived from human subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue. Here, we discuss the key differences between study design and methods used in both studies, which may have led to the differences in the browning phenotype observed. Together, observations and inferences from both studies support the presence of functional heterogeneity of different adipose tissue depots in humans. Collectively, our efforts provide insights into considerations for choosing appropriate cell culture models and experimental conditions to be used in future studies related to human adipose tissue browning.