Gene expression profiles of pre-confluent 3T3-L1 preadipocytes with low or high adipogenic potential

The objective of this analysis was to identify the genes that are differentially expressed between preadipocytes with low or high adipogenic capability Clones of 3T3-L1 were isolated by serial dilutions. Each well was visually inspected by microscopy to confirm the presence of a single colony per well. Wells with more than one colony were excluded. The clones were amplified and always maintained at sub-confluence. The adipogenic potential of each clonal lines was tested using an adipogenic cocktail containing insulin, dexamethasone and IBMX. After differentiation, triglycerides were extracted and quantified and clones with a low ability to differentiate into adipocytes were classified as a 'Low' lines and clones with a high adipogenic potential were classified as 'High' lines. For the microarray analysis, RNA was extracted from 5 Low lines and 5 High lines. The RNA was extracted prior to differentiation, in proliferating cells.