The raison d'etre of the adipocyte is to store energy (in the form of triacylglycerol) for use
during periods of caloric insufficiency. Adipocytes first appear late in fetal development
preparatory to postnatal life when a substantial energy reserve is needed to survive periods
of fasting. Considerable progress has been made during the past few years in our
understanding of the adipocyte differentiation program. This review will focus on the roles of
the CAAT/enhancer binding protein (C/EBP) 1 and peroxisome proliferator-activated …