Adipocyte

Adipocyte
Adipocyte
	Illustration depicting white fat cells.
	Morphology of three different classes of adipocytes
Details
Identifiers
Latin	adipocytus
MeSH	D017667
TH	H2.00.03.0.01005
FMA	63880
	Anatomical terms of microanatomy

Adipocytes, also known as lipocytes and fat cells, are the cells that primarily compose adipose tissue, specialized in storing energy as fat.^[1] Adipocytes are derived from mesenchymal stem cells which give rise to adipocytes through adipogenesis. In cell culture, adipocyte progenitors can also form osteoblasts, myocytes and other cell types.

There are two types of adipose tissue, white adipose tissue (WAT) and brown adipose tissue (BAT), which are also known as white and brown fat, respectively, and comprise two types of fat cells.

^ Birbrair A, Zhang T, Wang ZM, Messi ML, Enikolopov GN, Mintz A, Delbono O (August 2013). "Role of pericytes in skeletal muscle regeneration and fat accumulation". Stem Cells and Development. 22 (16): 2298–2314. doi:10.1089/scd.2012.0647. PMC 3730538. PMID 23517218.

[Birbrair_2298–2314-1] Birbrair A, Zhang T, Wang ZM, Messi ML, Enikolopov GN, Mintz A, Delbono O (August 2013). "Role of pericytes in skeletal muscle regeneration and fat accumulation". Stem Cells and Development. 22 (16): 2298–2314. doi:10.1089/scd.2012.0647. PMC 3730538. PMID 23517218.

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