Biomaterial Database

Quantitation of adipose conversion and triglycerides by staining intracytoplasmic lipids with Oil red O. 1992

J L Ramírez-Zacarías, and F Castro-Muñozledo, and W Kuri-Harcuch

Department of Cell Biology, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del IPN, México City, México.

Cultured 3T3-F442A cells differentiate into adipocytes and accumulate lipid droplets in the cytoplasm. When fat cells are stained with Oil red O, the degree of staining seems to be proportional to the extent of cell differentiation. We report here a fast and simple method to quantitate the extent of adipose conversion by staining the accumulated lipid with Oil red O and determining the amount of extracted dye at 510 nm. The results show that Oil red O specifically stains triglycerides and cholesteryl oleate but no other lipids. This technique is a valuable tool for processing large numbers of cell cultures or samples in which adipose differentiation and/or accumulated triglycerides is to be quantitated.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008055	Lipids	A generic term for fats and lipoids, the alcohol-ether-soluble constituents of protoplasm, which are insoluble in water. They comprise the fats, fatty oils, essential oils, waxes, phospholipids, glycolipids, sulfolipids, aminolipids, chromolipids (lipochromes), and fatty acids. (Grant & Hackh's Chemical Dictionary, 5th ed)	Lipid
D002454	Cell Differentiation	Progressive restriction of the developmental potential and increasing specialization of function that leads to the formation of specialized cells, tissues, and organs.	Differentiation, Cell,Cell Differentiations,Differentiations, Cell
D002788	Cholesterol Esters	Fatty acid esters of cholesterol which constitute about two-thirds of the cholesterol in the plasma. The accumulation of cholesterol esters in the arterial intima is a characteristic feature of atherosclerosis.	Cholesterol Ester,Cholesteryl Ester,Cholesteryl Esters,Ester, Cholesterol,Ester, Cholesteryl,Esters, Cholesterol,Esters, Cholesteryl
D003593	Cytoplasm	The part of a cell that contains the CYTOSOL and small structures excluding the CELL NUCLEUS; MITOCHONDRIA; and large VACUOLES. (Glick, Glossary of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 1990)	Protoplasm,Cytoplasms,Protoplasms
D005993	Glycerolphosphate Dehydrogenase		Alpha-Glycerophosphate Dehydrogenase,Glycerol-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenase,Glycerophosphate Dehydrogenase,Glycerophosphate Oxidase,Alpha Glycerophosphate Dehydrogenase,Dehydrogenase, Alpha-Glycerophosphate,Dehydrogenase, Glycerol-3-Phosphate,Dehydrogenase, Glycerolphosphate,Dehydrogenase, Glycerophosphate,Glycerol 3 Phosphate Dehydrogenase,Oxidase, Glycerophosphate
D000273	Adipose Tissue	Specialized connective tissue composed of fat cells (ADIPOCYTES). It is the site of stored FATS, usually in the form of TRIGLYCERIDES. In mammals, there are two types of adipose tissue, the WHITE FAT and the BROWN FAT. Their relative distributions vary in different species with most adipose tissue being white.	Fatty Tissue,Body Fat,Fat Pad,Fat Pads,Pad, Fat,Pads, Fat,Tissue, Adipose,Tissue, Fatty
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D001391	Azo Compounds	Organic chemicals where aryl or alkyl groups are joined by two nitrogen atoms through a double bond (R-N	Azo Dye,Azo Dyes,Compounds, Azo,Dye, Azo,Dyes, Azo
D001710	Biotin	A water-soluble, enzyme co-factor present in minute amounts in every living cell. It occurs mainly bound to proteins or polypeptides and is abundant in liver, kidney, pancreas, yeast, and milk.	Vitamin H,Biodermatin,Biokur,Biotin Gelfert,Biotin Hermes,Biotin-Ratiopharm,Biotine Roche,Deacura,Gabunat,Medebiotin,Medobiotin,Rombellin,Biotin Ratiopharm,Gelfert, Biotin,Hermes, Biotin,Roche, Biotine
D013194	Staining and Labeling	The marking of biological material with a dye or other reagent for the purpose of identifying and quantitating components of tissues, cells or their extracts.	Histological Labeling,Staining,Histological Labelings,Labeling and Staining,Labeling, Histological,Labelings, Histological,Stainings