Concentrated extract of Prunus mume fruit exerts dual effects in 3T3-L1 adipocytes by inhibiting adipogenesis and inducing beiging/browning

Su Bu; Chunying Yuan; Fuliang Cao; Qifeng Xu; Yichun Zhang; Ronghua Ju; Longyun Chen; Zhong Li

doi:10.29219/fnr.v65.5492

Concentrated extract of Prunus mume fruit exerts dual effects in 3T3-L1 adipocytes by inhibiting adipogenesis and inducing beiging/browning

Food Nutr Res. 2021 Oct 29:65. doi: 10.29219/fnr.v65.5492. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Su Bu^{1

2}, Chunying Yuan^{1

2}, Fuliang Cao³, Qifeng Xu¹, Yichun Zhang⁴, Ronghua Ju⁵, Longyun Chen⁶, Zhong Li⁵

Affiliations

¹ College of Biology and the Environment, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, China.
² These authors contributed equally to this study.
³ Co-innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, China.
⁴ College of Forestry, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, China.
⁵ National Engineering Research Center of Biomaterials, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, China.
⁶ Nanjing Longlijia Agricultural Development Co. Ltd., Nanjing, China.

Abstract

Background: The fruit Prunus mume has beneficial effects in the treatment of obesity and metabolic syndrome. However, its mechanism of action is unclear.

Objective: We assessed the effect of a concentrated water extract of P. mume fruit (CEPM) on adipogenesis and beiging/browning in 3T3-L1 cells.

Methods: The cell viability was determined by MTT assay. Lipid accumulation was assessed with Oil Red O (ORO) staining under different concentrations of CEPM. The effects of CEPM treatment during differentiation on beiging/browning and mitochondrial biogenesis in 3T3-L1 cells were investigated.

Results: CEPM treatment suppressed differentiation and decreased lipid accumulation by downregulating the expression of key adipogenic genes, including PPARγ, C/EBPα, SREBP-1c, FAS, and perilipin A. In contrast, CEPM treatment increased the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) content and mRNA levels of mitochondrial biogenesis genes, including NAMPT, Nrf1, Nrf2, and CPT1α, and reduced reactive oxygen species levels. Importantly, CEPM increased the expression of brown/beige hallmark genes (Pgc-1α, Ucp1, Cidea, Cox7α1, Cox8b, Cd137, and Pdk-4), as well as proteins (UCP1, PGC-1α, NRF1, TBX1, and CPT1α). The high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis reveals that CEPM contains mumefural, naringin, 5-HMF, citric acid, caffeic acid, and hesperidin.

Conclusion: The first evidence we provided showed that CEPM has a dual role in 3T3-L1 cells inhibiting adipogenesis and promoting beiging/browning, and hence, could be a potential agent in the fight against obesity.

Keywords: 3T3-L1 adipocytes; beiging; browning; concentrated water extract of Prunus mume fruit (CEPM); mitochondrial biogenesis.