Effect of cell size on lipid synthesis by human adipose tissue in vitro.

When adipose tissue cells were incubated with collagenase for different periods of time, cell populations with different mean cell sizes were obtained from the same tissue sample. Lipid synthesis from glucose was studied as a function of adipose cell size and number. The incubations were performed in Parker medium 199, which is suitable for tissue culture of human adipose tissue. The results show that the larger cells of a specimen have a greater rate of lipid synthesis than the smaller cells of the same specimen. This is mainly due to an increase in the synthesis of glyceride-glycerol. Addition of insulin stimulated lipid synthesis. However, the larger adipose cells were less sensitive to the stimulating effect of insulin than the smaller cells.