Igf2 regulates early postnatal DPP4+ preadipocyte pool expansion

Abstract

Adipose tissue is rapidly expanding early in life. Elucidating the queues facilitating this process will advance our understanding of metabolically healthy obesity. Using single-cell RNA sequencing, we identified compositional differences of prewean and adult murine subcutaneous adipose tissue. We identified a dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (Dpp4)-positive precursor population residing in the reticular interstitium of subcutaneous adipose expressing insulin growth factor 2 (Igf2) in prewean mice. We show that IGF2 drives proliferation rather than differentiation in these cells. Moreover, loss of Igf2 in Dpp4⁺ progenitor cells promotes adipogenesis. Our findings unravel the temporally restricted expression of Igf2 to promote preadipocyte expansion.