Brown and Beige Fat: Physiological Roles beyond Heat Generation.

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Kajimura et al. Cell Metabolism review 2015.pdf	1.32 MB

Authors:

Kajimura S, Spiegelman BM, Seale P.

Journal:

Cell Metabolism

Publication Date:

Tue, 2015-10-06

Institutions:

1UCSF Diabetes Center and Department of Cell and Tissue Biology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143-0669, USA. 2Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA. 3Institute for Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.

Abstract:

Since brown adipose tissue (BAT) dissipates energy through UCP1, BAT has garnered attention as a therapeutic intervention for obesity and metabolic diseases including type 2 diabetes. As we better understand the physiological roles of classical brown and beige adipocytes, it is becoming clear that BAT is not simply a heat-generating organ. Increased beige fat mass in response to a variety of external/internal cues is associated with significant improvements in glucose and lipid homeostasis that may not be entirely mediated by UCP1. We aim to discuss recent insights regarding the developmental lineages, molecular regulation, and new functions for brown and beige adipocytes.