Rabbit Preadipocytes

Rabbit preadipocytes are primary mesenchymal progenitor cells derived from the stromal vascular fraction of rabbit white adipose tissue, most commonly isolated from perirenal or subcutaneous depots. As non-immortalized cells with a normal diploid karyotype, they faithfully replicate in vivo adipocyte biology, free from the aneuploidy and dysregulated proliferative signaling that confound transformed lines such as 3T3-L1.

A paramount advantage of this system is its high fidelity to human lipid and lipoprotein metabolism: unlike mice, rabbits exhibit an LDL-rich lipoprotein profile, hepatic lipase distribution, and adipose tissue lipolytic regulation closely mirroring that of humans. Consequently, rabbit adipocytes display substantial basal and catecholamine-stimulated lipolysis, a robust anti-lipolytic response to insulin, and insulin-stimulated glucose uptake, all at levels directly translatable to human physiology.

Notably, rabbit preadipocytes exhibit intrinsic plasticity: under β3-adrenergic or PPARγ agonist stimulation, they efficiently convert to UCP1-positive beige adipocytes, enabling detailed study of white-to-beige transdifferentiation and thermogenesis. Moreover, they respond to physiological concentrations of glucocorticoids and growth hormone, and can be co-cultured with macrophages to model the paracrine interactions that drive obesity-associated adipose inflammation. Given that rabbits are a classical model for diet-induced atherosclerosis and obesity, these primary cultures represent an indispensable, human-relevant platform for dissecting adipocyte biology, adipokine-mediated vascular crosstalk, and the therapeutic manipulation of adipose tissue function.