The molecular mechanism of the stimulation of adipocyte differentiation by a glucocorticoid

Abstract

The glucocorticoid dexamethasone (dex) stimulates differentiation of cultured preadipocytes of the 3T3-L1 cell line to adipocytes, The preadipocytes express a gene termed preadipocyte factor 1 (pref-1). The pref- 1 gene product is abundant in preadipocytes but completely absent in adipocytes, Constitutive expression of pref-1 blocks differentiation of adipocytes, as does a soluble 50 kDa fragment of the pref-1 protein. It appears that dex mediates adipogenesis by down-regulating expression of pref- 1.