File:Blausen_0012_AdiposeTissue.png · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
adipocyte
Sign in to saveAlso known as lipocyte, fat cell, Adipocytes, lipocytes
Adipocytes, also known as lipocytes and fat cells, are the cells that primarily compose adipose tissue, specialized in storing energy as fat. 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.
Key facts
- Cell.Name
- Adipocyte
- Cell.Latin
- adipocytus
- Cell.Image
- Blausen 0012 AdiposeTissue.png
- Cell.Caption
- Illustration depicting white fat cells.
- Cell.Image2
- Adipocyte types.jpg
- Cell.Caption2
- Morphology of three different classes of adipocytes
via Wikipedia infobox
Research
64,379 papers- Adipogenesis: from stem cell to adipocyte.Annual review of biochemistry · 2012
- Adipocyte differentiation from the inside out.Nature reviews. Molecular cell biology · 2006
- Adipocyte dedifferentiation in health and diseases.Clinical science (London, England : 1979) · 2019
- White Adipocyte Plasticity in Physiology and Disease.Cells · 2019
- How obesity affects adipocyte turnover.Trends in endocrinology and metabolism: TEM · 2025
via PubMed
Wikidata facts
- Image
- Blausen 0012 AdiposeTissue.png
Show 2 more facts
- native label
- adipocytus
- Commons category
- Adipocytes
via Wikidata · CC0
~9 min read
Article
12 sectionsContents
- Structure
- White fat cells
- Brown fat cells
- Marrow fat cells
- Development
- Function
- Cell turnover
- Adaptation
- Endocrine role
- See also
- References
- External links
Adipocytes, also known as lipocytes and fat cells, are the cells that primarily compose adipose tissue, specialized in storing energy as fat. 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.