An Isoform of Decorin Is a Resistin Receptor on the Surface of Adipose Progenitor Cells

Adipose stromal cells (ASCs) serve as mesenchymal progenitors in white adipose tissue (WAT). Intercellular interactions involving ASCs have remained obscure. By merging phage display technology with fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS), we screened a combinatorial library for peptides that target mouse ASCs in vivo. We isolated peptide CSWKYWFGEC that specifically homes to ASCs, used it as bait to purify the corresponding ASC surface receptor, and identified it as a previously unreported cleavage product of decorin (DCN) lacking the glycanation site (termed Delta DCN). We demonstrate that Delta DCN is differentially expressed on ASC surface. In a screen for Delta DCN-binding proteins, we identified resistin, an adipokine for which the receptor has been unknown. Expression of Delta DCN in 3T3-L1 cells promoted proliferation and migration but suppressed lipid accumulation upon adipogenesis induction, which was resistin dependent. We conclude that Delta DCN serves as a functional receptor of resistin in adipocyte progenitors and may regulate WAT expansion.