Depot-specific and hypercaloric diet-induced effects on the osteoblast and adipocyte differentiation potential of adipose-derived stromal cells

► Rat ADSCs exhibit depot-specific differences in differentiation potential. ► Osteoinduction occurs in subcutaneous-derived ADSCs, but not visceral-derived ADSCs. ► Diet-induced visceral obesity reduces the osteogenic potential of ADSCs. ► Diet-induced visceral obesity does not affect the adipocytic potential of ADSCs. Adipose-derived stromal cells (ADSCs) can be differentiated in vitro into several mesenchyme-derived cell types. We had previously described depot-specific differences in the adipocyte differentiation of ADSCs, and consequently we hypothesized that there may also be depot-specific differences in osteoblast differentiation of ADSCs. For this study, the osteoblast differentiation potential of rat subcutaneous ADSCs (scADSCs) and perirenal visceral ADSCs (pvADSCs) was compared. Osteoblast differentiation media (OM) induced markers of the osteoblastic phenotype in scADSCs, but not in pvADSCs. ADSCs harvested from rats with diet-induced visceral obesity (DIO) exhibited reduced osteoinduction, compared to lean controls, but adipocyte differentiation was not affected. Expression of the pro-osteogenic transcription factor Msx2 was significantly higher in naïve scADSCs from lean and DIO rats than in pvADSCs. Our findings indicate that ADSCs from different anatomical sites are uniquely pre-programmed in vivo in a depot-specific manner, and that diet-induced metabolic disturbances translate into reduced osteoblast differentiation of ADSCs.