Hidden beneath your skin, fat cells lead a secret double life. Researchers in the Horsley Lab at the Yale School of Medicine have uncovered the complex role that fat cells play beyond storing energy in tissues. Fat cells aid in wound healing and protect the skin from fibrosis—an excessive accumulation of fibrous connective tissue resulting in thickened, hardened skin.
Adipocytes, or fat cells, store fats in a large specialized compartment known as a lipid droplet. There, fats stored as triglycerides undergo a critical process known as lipolysis, which breaks them down into fatty acids. The fatty acids can trigger an array of cellular responses, from metabolic processes that generate energy to the activation of inflammatory responses.
Adipocytes in skin tissue are sparse. However, preliminary research conducted in the Horsley Lab unveiled promising insights on how fatty acids from our skin’s adipocytes affect the development of skin fibrosis. Researchers observed that fat cells in regions with stimulated fibrosis lost their lipid droplets as early as five days into fibrosis development. Surprisingly, when researchers inhibited the enzyme that regulates lipid breakdown, the development of fibrosis worsened. This finding suggests that the release of fatty acids may play a protective role in mitigating fibrosis development.
“Fibrosis causes significant morbidity and mortality, and while some treatments can slow its progression, no cure is currently known,” said Maria Fernanda Forni, an associate researcher in the Horsley Lab. Uncovering the role of lipids derived from skin adipocytes provides potential therapeutic targets for future skin fibrosis treatments.