We have previously reported the establishment of preadipocyte cell lines, termed dedifferentiated fat (DFAT) cells, from Mature adipocytes of various animals. DFAT cells possess long-term viability and can redifferentiate into adipocytes both in vivo and in vitro. Furthermore, DFAT cells can transdifferentiate into osteoblasts and chondrocytes under appropriate Culture conditions. However, it is unclear whether DFAT cells are capable of transdifferentiating into skeletal myocytes, which is common in the mesodermal lineage. Here, we show that DFAT cells call be induced to transdifferentiate into skeletal myocytes ill Vitro. Myogenic induction of DFAT cells resulted in the expression of MyoD and myogenin, followed by cell fusion and formation of multinucleated cells expressing sarcomeric myosin heavy chain. These results indicate that DFAT cells derived from mature adipocytes call transdifferentiate into skeletal myocytes in vitro. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.