Middle Age Weight Gain: Stem Cell Link
- As people age, they often see an increase in abdominal fat, a condition linked to serious health risks.
- Qiong (Annabel) Wang, an associate professor at City of Hope's Arthur Riggs Diabetes & Metabolism Research Institute, said aging triggers the emergence of a specific type of adult...
- The research team focused on white adipose tissue (WAT), the fat tissue associated with age-related weight gain.
Scientists have discovered a direct stem cell link to middle-age weight gain, specifically age-related belly fat, potentially revolutionizing how we combat obesity. This groundbreaking research reveals that specific adult stem cells boost new fat cell production, exacerbating age-related weight gain, impacting metabolism adn increasing risks of diabetes and heart issues. The study, published in Science, highlights how these cells, found in human samples, actively create new fat cells. Targeting these cells could be the key to new therapies. for more on the scientific breakthroughs shaping our health, check out News Directory 3. Discover whatS next in the fight against age-related weight gain and improved overall health.
Stem Cells Key to Aging Belly Fat, Metabolism Research Shows
Updated June 20, 2025
As people age, they often see an increase in abdominal fat, a condition linked to serious health risks. Researchers at City of Hope have pinpointed a cellular mechanism behind this phenomenon, offering potential targets for future treatments to combat age-related obesity and improve metabolism.
Qiong (Annabel) Wang, an associate professor at City of Hope’s Arthur Riggs Diabetes & Metabolism Research Institute, said aging triggers the emergence of a specific type of adult stem cell, boosting the production of new fat cells, especially around the abdomen. The study, conducted in collaboration with UCLA, was published in Science.
The research team focused on white adipose tissue (WAT), the fat tissue associated with age-related weight gain. They suspected that WAT expands not onyl by fat cells growing larger but also by producing new ones. To investigate, they studied adipocyte progenitor cells (apcs), stem cells in WAT that develop into fat cells.
Experiments involving mice showed that APCs from older animals rapidly generated a large number of fat cells when transplanted into younger mice. Conversely,APCs from younger mice did not produce many new fat cells when transplanted into older mice. This indicated that older APCs can independently create new fat cells, regardless of the host’s age.
Further analysis revealed that aging transforms APCs into committed preadipocytes, age-specific (CP-As).these CP-A cells actively produce new fat cells, explaining why older mice gain more weight.The leukemia inhibitory factor receptor (LIFR) signaling pathway was found to be crucial in promoting the multiplication and evolution of CP-A cells into fat cells.
Wang said the body’s fat-making process is driven by LIFR, which is more critical in older mice than younger ones.The team also identified similar CP-A cells in human tissue samples, with an increased number in middle-aged individuals, demonstrating their capacity to create new fat cells.
“Our findings highlight the importance of controlling new fat-cell formation to address age-related obesity,” Wang said.
what’s next
Future studies will track CP-A cells in animal models and humans, seeking strategies to eliminate or block these cells to prevent age-related fat gain and improve overall health.