Phenamil

3T3-L1 preadipocytes are induced to differentiate after growth arrest using adipogenic media containing insulin, dexamethasone, and IBMX; differentiation is assessed by lipid-droplet accumulation, triglyceride increase, Oil Red O staining, and adipocyte-marker induction such as PPARγ and C/EBPα.

Mesenchymal stromal/stem cells can be induced toward an osteoblast-like lineage in vitro by culture in osteogenic medium containing dexamethasone, ascorbic acid or ascorbate-2-phosphate, and β-glycerophosphate; the differentiation process is commonly evaluated by alkaline phosphatase activity, osteogenic marker expression, collagenous matrix formation, and calcium-rich matrix mineralization. The main readouts are alkaline phosphatase activity as an early osteogenic marker and Alizarin Red S staining as a calcium-deposit readout for mineralized extracellular matrix; Alizarin Red S can be inspected microscopically or extracted and measured colorimetrically at 405 nm.

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are a type of cell that has similar properties to embryonic stem cells through somatic cell reprogramming.

Lipid droplets are intracellular organelles with a neutral-lipid core that stores triacylglycerols and sterol esters, and Oil Red O or Sudan dyes detect these hydrophobic lipid deposits by partitioning into retained lipids in fresh or frozen specimens. Oil Red O stains neutral triglycerides and lipids in frozen tissue sections or air-dried cytologic preparations, while Sudan Black B has also been used as a histochemical fat stain for lipid-rich tissue structures.