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The First Step: Isolating Single Cells

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In the mid-1960s, Rodbell was studying enzymes. At that time, the only test medium available was crude chunks of fat tissue. To get more precise results, Rodbell developed a method for isolating single fat cells from the fat tissue. Because fat floats, Rodbell first put the minced tissue in a liquid and then treated the floating cells with a substance called collagenase to separate the fat cells from other cells.

"Great," he shouted, but are they viable cells?"

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Photo of Martin Rodbell peering into a microscope
Martin Rodbell, 1966

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Courtesy of the Rodbell Family

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Fat cells isolated by Rodbell's method.

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Courtesy of Dr. May-Jan Zarnowski and Dr. Joseph Brzostawski, NIDDK

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image of Rodbell's commentary.
Rodbell's 1980 commentary on his 1964 paper, which became a "Citation Classic."

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Reproduced with Permission from ISI (R). Original material published in Current Contents, Number 45, November 10, 1980

To confirm for the Nobel laureate Bernardo Houssay, who was visiting Rodbell's laboratory, that these cells were viable, Rodbell showed that the cells reacted normally to the hormone insulin. This was a turning point in his career—Rodbell's focus shifted from studying the metabolism of fat to examining the actions of hormones.

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