Adipose tissue, made of adipocyte cells (also known as fat cells), is central in many physiological pathways involved in obesity-related diseases. Clarifying the dynamics of adipocytes size and number evolution is crucial to better understand the pathophysiological basis of those diseases. We will study adipocyte size dynamics using mathematical models based on partial differential equations. We aim to mimic characteristic cell size distributions in order to provide information on their connections with health conditions.

A mathematical model describing adipocyte size dynamics, based on exchange of lipid, will be presented. Parameter estimation from adipocyte size distribution will be performed as well as a study of parameter identifiability. Parameter estimation is performed with CMAES and will be presented first on synthetic data, then results on measured adipocyte size distribution of several rats will be discussed.