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. 2024 Feb 25;14(5):2075–2098. doi: 10.7150/thno.93919

Table 2.

Studies establishing adipose organoids as drug screening platforms for obesity-related metabolic diseases

Diseases Studies Sources Methods Efficiency validation Screening drugs Highlight results In vivo validation
Obesity Choi et al. (2022)122 mice 3T3-L1 preadipocytes
and macrophages (RAW264.7)
-Suspended in alginate hydrogel mixture for bioprinting of 3D beads;
-Tested in 96-well platforms
-Rosi: lipid accumulation↑;
-GW9662: lipid accumulation↓
178 compounds consisting of AMPK activators, PPARγ agonists, and PPARγ antagonists -1st hit:
7 compounds: adipogenesis↓ in 3D instead of 2D.
-2nd hit:
3 compounds: repetitive anti-adipogenic effects in 3D, adiponectin expression↑;
Compound #71: pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β)↓.
None
Abbott et al. (2018)78 Human liquified lipoaspirates from ten subjects with different BMI -Seeded into silk scaffolds;
-Tested in 24-well platforms
None AICAR (500 μM): one of exercise mimetics -Lipolysis↓ in only 3 of the 10 patient samples.
-Responsiveness was not correlated with BMI (varied from 22, 23, 23, 26, 30, 32, 32, 33, 33, 51 kg/m2).
None
T2DM Park et al. (2019)83 mice 3T3-L1 preadipocytes
and macrophages (RAW264.7)
-Suspended in alginate hydrogel mixture for 3D bioprinting Rosi: glucose uptake↑, GLUT4 expression↑, G6PD enzyme activity↓ 5 PPARγ antagonists: GW9662, BADGE, SR202, FH535, and T0070907 -1st hit:
All 5 antagonists: lipogenesis-related genes and proteins (FABP4, ADIPOQ, PLIN, and PPARγ2)↓.
-2nd hit:
GW9662 (10 μM): glucose uptake↑, GLUT4 expression↑, G6PD enzyme activity↓.
C57BL/6ob/ob mice orally administrated GW9662 (300 mg/kg):
-Body and fat weights↓.
-OGTT↑, ITT↑, HOMA-IR index↓.
Park et al. (2020)84 hADSCs
and macrophages (RAW264.7)
-Suspended in alginate hydrogel mixture for bioprinting of 3D beads;
-Loaded in separate wells of 3D co-culture acrylic plates allowing cell interaction
Metformin and Rosi: glucose uptake↑, adiponectin secretion↑ 11β-HSD1 inhibitors:
KR-1 (mouse-potent enantiomer), KR-2 (human-potent enantiomer) KR-3 (racemic compound)
-1st hit:
KR-1 and KR-3: mouse 11β-HSD1↓;
KR-2: human 11β-HSD1↓.
-2nd hit:
KR-1 and KR-3: glucose uptake↑, GLUT4 expression↑ in mice-derived WAOs;
KR-2 and KR-3: glucose uptake↑, GLUT4 expression↑ in human-derived WAOs.
None
NAFLD Slaughter et al. (2021)104 Primary human cardiac preadipocytes and primary human hepatocytes Incorporated into two-chamber housing system None Metformin Metformin (1mM) for a shortened 7-day treatment:
-2D: Cell death.
-3D: Steatosis↓ in diabetic, obese, diabetic plus obese, diabetic plus obese and proinflammatory medium.
Failure in clinical translation:
The result dose is above physiological range in clinical application (1-50 μM).

ADIPOQ: adiponectin; AICAR: 5‐aminoimidazile‐4‐caboxamide‐1‐β‐D‐ribofuranoside; AMPK: adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase; BADGE: Bisphenol A diglycidyl ether; BMI: body mass index; FABP4: fatty acid binding protein 4; GLUT4: glucose transporter 4; GW9662: PPARγ antagonist; G6PD: glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase; hADSC: human adipose-derived stem cells; HOMA-IR: Homeostatic Model Assessment for Insulin Resistance; IL: interleukin; ITT: insulin tolerance test; KR: compound synthesized at the Korean Research Institute of Chemical Technology; OGTT: oral glucose tolerance test; PLIN: perilipin; PPARγ: peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma; Rosi: rosiglitazone; TNF-α: tumor necrosis factor-alpha; WAO: white adipose organoid; 3D: three-dimensional; 11β-HSD1: 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1.