Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T11:22:23.528Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Fat cell synthesis in pigs assessed after administration of tritiated thymidine in vivo

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

Janet Kirtland
Affiliation:
Nutrition Division, Unilever Research Laboratory, Colworth House, Sharnbrook
M. I. Gurr
Affiliation:
Nutrition Division, Unilever Research Laboratory, Colworth House, Sharnbrook

Summary

The aims of this work were to determine the feasibility of using the incorporation of radio-labelled thymidine into fat cell DNA in vivo as an index of cell division in the adipose tissue of young pigs, and to distinguish between the processes of new cell synthesis and the ‘filling’ of existing ‘empty’ cells.

Five Large White pigs were given tritiated thymidine as follows: two animals were injected at 2 days of age, two at 9 days of age and one at 40 days of age. The animals were killed at different times after the injection and adipose tissue was removed from various sites. The tissue was separated, using collagenase, into ‘fat cell’ and ‘stromal cell’ fractions. The specific (radio)activity of DNA isolated from each fraction was measured.

Fat cell synthesis occurred rapidly in pigs aged between 2 and 40 days of age. It appeared that by 40 days of age the rate of synthesis declined in backfat such that the filling of pre-existing empty fat cells became a more important contributor to the increased mass of adipose tissue than the filling of newly synthesized cells.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1980

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, D. B. & Kauffman, R. G. (1973). Cellular and enzymatic changes in porcine adipose tissue during growth. Journal of Lipid Research 14, 160168.Google Scholar
Bertalanffy, F. T. & Lau, C. (1962). Cell renewal. International Reviews of Cytology 13, 357366.Google Scholar
Burton, K. (1956). A study of the conditions and mechanism of the diphenylamine reaction for the colorimetric estimation of deoxyribonucleic acid. Biochemical Journal 62, 315323.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cameron, I. L. (1970). Cell renewal in the organs and tissues of the non-growing adult mouse. Texas Reports in Biology and Medicine 28, 203248.Google Scholar
Cleaver, J. E. (1967). Thymidine Metabolism and Cell Kinetics. Amsterdam: Holland Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Desnoyers, F. & Vodovar, N. (1974). Apparition, origine et évolution des tissus adipeux épididymaire et péricardiaque du foetus de pore. Annales de Biologie Animale, Biochimie, Biophysique 14, 769780.Google Scholar
Enser, M. B., Wood, J. B., Restall, D. J. & Macfie, H. J. H. (1976). The cellularity of adipose tissue from pigs of different weights. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 86, 633638.Google Scholar
Feinendegen, L. E., Bond, V. P. & Hughes, W. L. (1966). Physiological thymidine reutilisation in rat bone marrow. Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine 122, 448455.Google Scholar
Gerber, G., Gerber, G. & Altman, K. I. (1960). The catabolism of tissue nucleic acid in the rat. I. The replacement time of deoxyribonucleic acid. Journal of Biological Chemistry 235, 14331436.Google Scholar
Greenwood, M. R. C. & Hirsch, J. (1974). Post-natal development of adipocyte hypercellularity in the normal rat. Journal of Lipid Research 15, 474483.Google Scholar
Gurr, M. I. & Kirtland, J. (1978). Adipose tissue cellularity: a review. I. Techniques for studying cellularity. International Journal of Obesity 2, 401427.Google ScholarPubMed
Gurr, M. I., Kirtland, J., Phillip, M. & Robinson, M. P. (1977). The consequences of early overnutrition for fat cell size and number: the pig as an experimental model for human obesity. International Journal of Obesity I, 151170.Google Scholar
Hayes, T. M. & Lewis, B. M. (1975). DNA synthesis in adipose tissue. Postgraduate Medical Journal 51, Supplement 1, 8790.Google Scholar
Hollenberg, C. H. & Vost, A. (1968). Regulation of DNA synthesis in fat cells and stromal elements from rat adipose tissue. Journal of Clinical Investigation 47, 24852498.Google Scholar
Hood, R. L. & Allen, C. E. (1977). Cellularity of porcine adipose tissue: effects of growth and adiposity. Journal of Lipid Research 18, 275284.Google Scholar
Kirtland, J. & Harris, P. M. (1980). Changes in adipose tissue of tho rat due to early undernutrition followed by rehabilitation. III. Changes in cell replication studied with tritiated thymidine. British Journal of Nutrition 43, 3343.Google Scholar
Leblond, C. P., Messier, B. & Kopriwa, B. (1959). Thymidine-H3 as a tool for the investigation of the renewal of cell populations. Laboratory Investigation 8, 296306.Google Scholar
Lee, Y. B., Kauffman, R. G. & Grummer, R. H. (1973). Effect of early nutrition on tho development of adipose tissue in the pig. Journal of Animal Science 37, 13121325.Google Scholar
McMeekan, C. P. (1940). Growth and development in the pig, witli special reference to carcass quality characters. I. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 30, 276343.Google Scholar
Manners, M. J. & McCrea, M. R. (1963). Changes in the chemical composition of sow-reared piglets during the first month of life. British Journal of Nutrition 17, 495513.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, R. J., Ezekwe, M., Herbein, J. H., Shervitt, G. W., Gobble, J. L. & Zeigler, J. H. (1974). Effects of neonatal nutritional experiences on growth and development of the pig. Journal of Animal Science 39, 521526.Google Scholar
Mersmann, H. J., Goodman, J. R. & Brown, L. J. (1975). Development of swine adipose tissue: morphology and chemical composition. Journal of Lipid Research 16, 269279.Google Scholar
Rodbell, M. (1964). Metabolism of isolated fat colls. I. Effects of hormones on glucose metabolism and lipolysis. Journal of Biological Chemistry 239, 375386.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steel, G. G. & Lamerton, L. F. (1965). The turnover of tritium from thymidine in the tissues of the rat. Experimental Cell Research 37, 117131.Google Scholar
Steele, N. C., Frobish, L. T. & Keeney, M. (1974). Lipogenesis and cellularity of adipose tissue from genetically lean and obese swine. Journal of Animal Science 39, 712719.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Widdowson, E. M. & Shaw, W. T. (1973). Full and empty fat cells. Lancet 2, 905.Google Scholar