Researchers at the City of Hope research center have discovered a biological mechanism that explains why abdominal fat increases with age. The study was published in the journal Science at the end of June 2026.
The team investigated so-called adipogenic progenitor cells in the adipose tissue of mice. While these stem cells were barely active in young animals, they began to massively produce new fat cells in middle age. Some of these transformed into a previously unknown stem cell population, which the researchers named CP-A (committed preadipocytes, age-specific). These cells develop exclusively in old age and are particularly effective at forming new fat cells.
The scientists identified the LIFR signaling pathway as the molecular switch. In older animals, this signal controlled the proliferation of CP-A cells and thus the spread of abdominal fat. Analyses of human tissue confirmed that comparable cells also occur more frequently in middle-aged humans.
Previously, it was assumed that adipose tissue primarily grows with age because existing fat cells become larger. The new study shows that new fat cells are continuously formed in addition. The discovery opens up a starting point for future therapies that could specifically inhibit not only existing fat cells but also their new formation.
Source: Wang et al., City of Hope, published in Science, June 2026. ScienceDaily
