WEHI-3 cells inhibit adipocyte differentiation in 3T3-L1 cells

• WEHI-3, an acute myelomonocytic leukemia cell line, inhibited 3T3-L1 preadipocyte from differentiating into adipocyte.
• WEHI-3 cells can arrest 3T3-L1 cells in G0/G1 phase by secreting soluble factors and thus inhibit their proliferation.
• WEHI-3 cells reduced bone marrow pimelosis in the murine model.
• Both ROCKII and β-catenin were involved in the WEHI-3-mediated anti-adipogenic effects.

By investigating the anti-adipogenic effects of WEHI-3 cells – a murine acute myelomonocytic leukemia cell line – we sought to improve the efficiency of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Analysis of Oil Red O staining and the expression of adipogenic genes, including PPARγ, C/EBPα, FAS and LPL, indicated that WEHI-3 cells significantly inhibited 3T3-L1 mouse preadipocyte cells from differentiating into adipocytes. In vivo, fat vacuoles in mice injected with WEHI-3 cells were also remarkably reduced in the murine bone marrow pimelosis model. Moreover, the key gene in the Rho signaling pathway, ROCKII, and the key gene in the Wnt signaling pathway, β-catenin, were both upregulated compared with the control group. siRNA-mediated knockdown of ROCKII and β-catenin reversed these WEHI-3-mediated anti-adipogenic effects. Taken together, these data suggest that WEHI-3 cells exert anti-adipogenic effects and that both ROCKII and β-catenin are involved in this process.