Adipose tissue (a specialised energy storage structure) is the only tissue that can change its mass substantially during adult life. It does this through changes in the size of its constituent cells (adipocytes) and through the de novo generation of cells. Unfortunately, given the obesity epidemic, adipocyte development in vivo is poorly understood but, here, Gou Young Koh and colleagues provide new insights into adipogenesis by analyzing the postnatal development of epididymal adipose tissue (EAT) in mice (). They show that EAT is generated from non-adipose tissue during the first 14 postnatal days of development and that this non-adipose tissue is initially composed of multipotent progenitor cells (possibly including adipoblasts) that lack adipogenic differentiation capacity in vitro. By postnatal day 4, however, progenitor cells isolated from EAT can form adipocytes if they are provided with cell-to-matrix and cell-to-cell contacts. Finally, the researchers show that impaired angiogenesis in postnatal mice interferes with adipogenesis. Thus, they conclude, cues from cellular and matrix components, together with appropriate angiogenesis, are required for adipose tissue development.
