Back

Natural compounds magnolol and dicoumarol enhance adipogenesis for future food applications

Xie, Q.; Kawecki, S. N.; Chen, K. K.; Cohen, C. A.; Cheng, E.; Blencowe, M.; Yang, X.; Damoiseaux, R.; Rowat, A.

2026-07-07 bioengineering
10.64898/2026.07.06.736869 bioRxiv
Show abstract

Edible adipose tissue can enhance the sensory and nutritional qualities of cultivated and plant-based meats, yet efficient adipogenic differentiation remains a major bottleneck and synthetic PPAR{gamma} agonists are not approved for use in food production. Here, we report a natural compound screen in 3T3-L1 adipocytes that identifies magnolol and dicoumarol as enhancers of adipogenesis; this combination also robustly promotes lipid accumulation in primary porcine dedifferentiated fat cells and ovine preadipocytes. Transcriptomic analyses show that magnolol and dicoumarol induce adipogenesis in murine and porcine cell systems through canonical adipogenic pathways with a narrower transcriptional footprint than the potent PPAR{gamma} agonist rosiglitazone. These findings support the potential of naturally occurring compounds magnolol and dicoumarol as enhancers of adipogenesis for both mechanistic studies and food-relevant applications. More broadly, our findings establish a generalizable screening framework and identify small-molecule combinations that accelerate adipose tissue engineering across murine, porcine, and ovine culture systems.

Matching journals

The top 8 journals account for 50% of the predicted probability mass.

1
Molecular Metabolism
112 papers in training set
Top 0.1%
13.6%
2
Advanced Science
286 papers in training set
Top 0.4%
9.2%
3
Nature Communications
5641 papers in training set
Top 25%
6.5%
4
Scientific Reports
3612 papers in training set
Top 14%
5.7%
5
eLife
5828 papers in training set
Top 20%
5.7%
6
PLOS ONE
5266 papers in training set
Top 32%
4.5%
7
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
2444 papers in training set
Top 11%
4.5%
8
Communications Biology
993 papers in training set
Top 3%
4.2%
50% of probability mass above
9
Science Advances
1243 papers in training set
Top 9%
3.6%
10
Frontiers in Nutrition
24 papers in training set
Top 0.2%
3.3%
11
ACS Synthetic Biology
287 papers in training set
Top 1%
2.0%
12
Metabolic Engineering
75 papers in training set
Top 0.4%
1.8%
13
Plant Biotechnology Journal
64 papers in training set
Top 0.7%
1.8%
14
Food Research International
11 papers in training set
Top 0.1%
1.7%
15
Trends in Biotechnology
12 papers in training set
Top 0.1%
1.6%
16
Cell Chemical Biology
94 papers in training set
Top 1%
1.2%
17
iScience
1154 papers in training set
Top 24%
1.2%
18
Nature Metabolism
69 papers in training set
Top 1%
1.2%
19
Angewandte Chemie International Edition
93 papers in training set
Top 1%
1.1%
20
Nature Chemical Biology
119 papers in training set
Top 2%
1.0%
21
Frontiers in Chemistry
16 papers in training set
Top 0.3%
0.9%
22
Biomaterials Advances
22 papers in training set
Top 0.6%
0.9%
23
ACS Chemical Biology
167 papers in training set
Top 2%
0.9%
24
Food & Function
13 papers in training set
Top 0.3%
0.9%
25
Journal of Medicinal Chemistry
77 papers in training set
Top 1.0%
0.6%
26
Communications Chemistry
48 papers in training set
Top 2%
0.6%
27
Metabolism
15 papers in training set
Top 0.5%
0.6%
28
JCI Insight
277 papers in training set
Top 8%
0.6%
29
Pharmaceuticals
34 papers in training set
Top 2%
0.5%
30
Biochemical Pharmacology
20 papers in training set
Top 0.6%
0.5%