Fig. 2

The developmental origins of white adipose tissues in vertebrates (based on rodent models). The development of white adipose tissue shows dot-specific characteristics. Myf5⁺ progenitors from the dermomyotome (DM) of somites give rise to subcutaneous adiposes tissues located in the dorsal-anterior body axis including anterior, interscapular, and retroperitoneal fat. Consistently, Pax3⁺ or Meox1⁺ progenitors within the somites largely overlap with the MYF5 lineage in their contributions to subcutaneous fat, but they may also contribute to the formation of visceral adipose tissues at the perigonadal depot. In addition, Pref1/Dlk1⁺ mesenchymal stem cells from the somites also give rise to the subcutaneous fat. Moreover, PRX1⁺ progenitors in the somatic layer of lateral plate mesoderm (LPM) develop into limb-associated subcutaneous adipocytes especially those at the posterior depots. On the other hand, Wilms tumor 1 (WT1)⁺ embryonic mesothelial cells from the splanchnic layer of LPM develop into the visceral adipocytes. As for tissue-resident fibro/adipogenic progenitors (FAPs) in the skeletal muscle, they have a developmental origin of OSR1⁺ progenitors formed at the mid-gestation. FAPs proliferate at the fetal stage and differentiate into mature intramuscular adipocytes mainly at the fattening stage of beef cattle. Note: NTB: Neural tubes; NOTO: notochord; SCL: sclerotome; IM: intermediate mesoderm