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Lipid storage twin

adipocyte, alive: the cell keeps working while you watch. Every motion runs at a rate from a source, and the panel below drives it.

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Control panel

One white adipocyte: move cell size or droplet fill to see the stored lipid budget.

Lipid stored (droplet volume)

268,083 um3

Budget 321,555 um3. Budget given with the twin: the bar is the share of it this cell uses.

Triacylglycerol stored in the single unilocular lipid droplet. Capacity is the total cell volume; a cell at 100 percent is all lipid with no cytoplasm, which does not occur in vivo. Overshoot (droplet wider than cell) indicates a geometry error in the declared numbers.

source 1 source 2,

Inputs

Cell diameter 85 um

50 to 150 um · human, subcutaneous adipose tissue · Coulter Multisizer on osmium-fixed collagenase-isolated adipocytes from 28 obese adults · McLaughlin T et al. 2007, Diabetologia · source

bimodal distribution; small-cell peak near 50 um, large-cell peak 100 to 130 um; range 20 to 180 um reported

Lipid droplet diameter 80 um

40 to 145 um · human, subcutaneous adipose tissue · collagenase isolation and size fractionation of adipocytes from 30 human volunteers · Skurk T et al. 2007, J Clin Endocrinol Metab · source

large-fraction adipocytes 100 to 130 um diameter with the single unilocular droplet occupying the dominant fraction of cell volume; small-fraction cells 50 to 70 um with proportionally smaller droplets

Readouts

Cell volume

321,555 um3

65,450 to 1,767,146 um3 propagated

human · sphere approximation on measured diameter · source 1

Interval from evaluating at the ends of each input range; assumes the formula moves one way in each input.

Droplet volume

268,083 um3

33,510 to 1,596,256 um3 propagated

human · sphere approximation on measured diameter · source 1

Interval from evaluating at the ends of each input range; assumes the formula moves one way in each input.

Lipid fraction of cell volume

83.4 %

1.9 to 2,439 % propagated

human, subcutaneous · ratio of sphere volumes from measured diameters; published values 80 to 95 percent in mature adipocytes · source 1 · source 2

Interval from evaluating at the ends of each input range; assumes the formula moves one way in each input.

Droplet surface area

20,106 um2

5,027 to 66,052 um2 propagated

human · sphere surface formula on declared droplet diameter; sets the area available for PLIN1 coat and lipase access · source 1

Interval from evaluating at the ends of each input range; assumes the formula moves one way in each input.

Cytoplasm rim width (radial)

2.5 um

-47.5 to 55 um propagated

human · geometry on measured diameters; the rim houses all organelles and is typically under 2 um in mature adipocytes · source 1

Interval from evaluating at the ends of each input range; assumes the formula moves one way in each input.

Withheld

Perilipin-1 coat thickness

No sourced measurement of PLIN1 layer thickness on the human adipocyte lipid droplet surface found; the coat is a monolayer protein scaffold estimated at 10 to 20 nm but no primary measurement paper with a verified PMID was retrieved

Lipid mass stored

Converting droplet volume to TAG mass requires the TAG density (approximately 0.86 g/mL) and the purity assumption (near 100 percent TAG); no primary measurement of per-cell TAG mass in human adipocytes with a verified PMID was retrieved to source the density figure

Sources

McLaughlin T, Sherman A, Tsao P et al. Enhanced proportion of small adipose cells in insulin-resistant vs insulin-sensitive obese individuals implicates impaired adipogenesis. Diabetologia 2007;50:1707-1715.

human, subcutaneous adipose tissue, obese adults · Coulter Multisizer particle sizing on osmium-fixed collagenase-isolated adipocytes

Skurk T, Alberti-Huber C, Herder C, Hauner H. Relationship between adipocyte size and adipokine expression and secretion. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2007;92(3):1023-1033.

human, subcutaneous adipose tissue, 30 volunteers · collagenase isolation, size fractionation, diameter measurement

Zimmermann R et al. Fat mobilization in adipose tissue is promoted by adipose triglyceride lipase. Science 2004;306(5700):1383-1386.

mouse and human · knockout phenotyping; ATGL identified as rate-limiting lipase; confirms lipid droplet as dominant intracellular volume

Research use only. Every number here is geometry on published ranges, not a measurement of any individual.

Substances tested 19

All substances →

Insulin peptide hormone

acts on insulin receptor, then Akt and phosphodiesterase 3B (PDE3B)

Anti-lipolytic. Insulin activates PDE3B in adipocytes through Akt, lowering cAMP and shutting down the PKA-driven lipolytic cascade. Insulin-induced phosphorylation and activation of PDE3B in 3T3-L1 adipocytes was blocked by dominant-negative Akt; the S273A mutant was neither phosphorylated by insulin nor activated in adipocytes, placing Ser273 as the Akt site.

dose: not stated in the abstract · mouse 3T3-L1 adipocytes · dominant-negative Akt, site-directed mutagenesis, in vitro kinase and PDE activity assays · Kitamura T et al. 1999, Mol Cell Biol · source

Insulin peptide hormone

acts on insulin receptor, then GLUT4 glucose transporter

Stimulates glucose transport by translocating transporters from an intracellular pool to the plasma membrane rather than by activating transporters already at the surface. The founding observation for insulin-regulated GLUT4 trafficking in the fat cell.

dose: not stated in the abstract (the PubMed record for this 1980 paper carries no abstract; title, authors and journal verified) · rat, isolated adipose cells · subcellular fractionation and glucose transport measurement · Cushman SW and Wardzala LJ 1980, J Biol Chem · source

Mirabegron selective beta-3 adrenergic agonist

acts on ADRB3 (beta-3 adrenergic receptor)

Activates human brown adipose tissue. A single oral dose raised BAT metabolic activity on 18F-FDG PET/CT in all twelve subjects (p = 0.001) and increased resting metabolic rate by 203 plus or minus 40 kcal per day, a 13 percent rise (p = 0.001). BAT activity significantly predicted the change in resting metabolic rate.

dose: 200 mg oral, single dose · human, 12 healthy men · 18F-FDG PET/CT with indirect calorimetry, placebo controlled · Cypess AM et al. 2015, Cell Metab · source

Rosiglitazone (BRL49653) thiazolidinedione, antidiabetic

acts on PPARgamma (nuclear receptor)

Thiazolidinediones are potent and selective activators of PPARgamma. BRL49653 binds PPARgamma with a dissociation constant near 40 nM. Treating pluripotent C3H10T1/2 stem cells with BRL49653 drove efficient differentiation into adipocytes, linking the antidiabetic drug class directly to the adipogenic master regulator.

dose: Kd approximately 40 nM (binding affinity stated in the abstract) · mouse C3H10T1/2 pluripotent stem cells · receptor binding and transactivation assays with differentiation readout · Lehmann JM et al. 1995, J Biol Chem · source

PPARgamma2 (forced expression, not a drug) transcription factor, reference point for the TZD target

acts on PPARgamma2

Forced expression of PPARgamma2 in fibroblasts is sufficient to convert them into adipocytes. Establishes PPARgamma as the master transcriptional regulator of adipogenesis and explains why a PPARgamma ligand is an adipogenic drug.

dose: not applicable, genetic manipulation not pharmacology · mouse fibroblasts · retroviral expression and differentiation assay · Tontonoz P et al. 1994, Cell · source

Nicotinic acid (niacin) B vitamin used as a lipid-lowering agent

acts on GPR109A (PUMA-G in mouse, HM74 in human), Gi-coupled

Anti-lipolytic. The orphan receptor PUMA-G/HM74 is highly expressed in adipose tissue and is a nicotinic acid receptor; binding lowers cAMP through Gi. In PUMA-G null mice the nicotinic acid induced fall in plasma free fatty acids and triglyceride was abolished, showing the receptor mediates the anti-lipolytic effect in vivo.

dose: not stated in the abstract (described only as doses much higher than dietary) · mouse including PUMA-G knockout, plus the human receptor · receptor expression and cAMP assays with in vivo free fatty acid and triglyceride measurement · Tunaru S et al. 2003, Nat Med · source

Atglistatin small-molecule enzyme inhibitor, preclinical

acts on ATGL (adipose triglyceride lipase, PNPLA2)

Blocks the rate-limiting first step of lipolysis. Atglistatin is selective for ATGL and reduces fatty acid mobilization in vitro and in vivo. The proof that the rate-limiting lipase is druggable.

dose: not stated in the abstract · mouse · in vitro and in vivo lipolysis assays · Mayer N et al. 2013, Nat Chem Biol · source

ATGL (enzyme identification, not a drug) lipase, the target of atglistatin

acts on triacylglycerol in the lipid droplet

ATGL performs the rate-limiting hydrolysis of triacylglycerol to diacylglycerol plus a fatty acid. ATGL deletion causes massive lipid accumulation in adipose and cardiac tissue, confirming it as the dominant route by which the fat cell releases its stored lipid.

dose: not applicable, enzyme identification · mouse and human · knockout phenotyping and enzyme characterisation · Zimmermann R et al. 2004, Science · source

Every row rests on a PubMed abstract, and every PMID in this file was resolved through check-pubmed.py with a confirmed title match on 2026-09-12. A dose the abstract does not state is written as such, never guessed. Research reference, not medical advice.

Public datasets 7

GSE176171 single-cell RNA-seq (expression profiling by high throughput sequencing) Homo sapiens; Mus musculus

A single cell atlas of human adipose tissue

Emont MP et al. 2022, Nature: A single-cell atlas of human and mouse white adipose tissue · paper · public at NCBI GEO; NCBI data are free to use with attribution and carry no licence text of their own · accession resolved 2026-09-12 via eutils esummary

GSE155960 single-cell RNA-seq (expression profiling by high throughput sequencing) Homo sapiens

Examination of human adipose celltypes in lean and obese donors

Hildreth AD et al. 2021, Nature Immunology: Single-cell sequencing of human white adipose tissue identifies new cell states in health and obesity · paper · public at NCBI GEO · accession resolved 2026-09-12 via eutils esummary

GSE342773 single-nucleus and bulk RNA-seq (expression profiling by high throughput sequencing), 39 samples Homo sapiens

Single-nucleus and bulk transcriptomic atlas of human visceral adipose tissue across metabolic disease states identifies THBS1 as a fibro-inflammatory driver

No companion PubMed id listed in the GEO record at the time of resolution · public at NCBI GEO · accession resolved 2026-09-12 via eutils esummary

GSE316698 single-nucleus RNA-seq (expression profiling by high throughput sequencing), 49 samples Homo sapiens

Single-nucleus RNA sequencing of human subcutaneous adipose tissue biopsies from 49 Mexican participants

Kar A et al. 2026, Genome Medicine: Lessons from single cell omics: admixed American ancestry and sex confer cardiometabolic disease risk in Mexican individuals · paper · public at NCBI GEO · accession resolved 2026-09-12 via eutils esummary

GSE334145 RNA-seq (expression profiling by high throughput sequencing), 68 samples Homo sapiens

Transcriptomic Profiling of Patients' Human Brown and White Adipose Tissue Depots

No companion PubMed id listed in the GEO record at the time of resolution · public at NCBI GEO · accession resolved 2026-09-12 via eutils esummary

GSE330759 RNA-seq (expression profiling by high throughput sequencing), 20 samples Homo sapiens

Transcriptomic profiling of periadrenal adipose tissue in autonomous cortisol secretion

No companion PubMed id listed in the GEO record at the time of resolution · public at NCBI GEO · accession resolved 2026-09-12 via eutils esummary

GSE242243 RNA-seq (expression profiling by high throughput sequencing) Mus musculus

CarS2 mediated cysteine catabolism drives brown fat development and thermogenesis through persulfidating EBF2 [BAC and L1 differ]

Peng X et al. 2026, Advanced Science: Cars2-Mediated Cysteine Catabolism Drives Brown Fat Development and Thermogenesis Through Persulfidating EBF2 · paper · public at NCBI GEO · accession resolved 2026-09-12 via eutils esummary

Public transcriptomic datasets on adipocytes and adipose tissue. Every accession was resolved through NCBI eutils esummary on the date shown and the title here is the one GEO returns, not a paraphrase. Companion paper PMIDs were confirmed separately through eutils.