Journal:
Cell Reports
Publication Date:
Thu, 2014-12-11
Institutions:
1Department of Chemical Physiology and The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
2UCSF Diabetes Center, Department of Cell and Tissue Biology, University of California, San Francisco, 35 Medical Center Way, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.
3Department of Chemical Physiology and The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
4UCSF Diabetes Center, Department of Cell and Tissue Biology, University of California, San Francisco, 35 Medical Center Way, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
Abstract:
Obesity develops when energy intake chronically exceeds energy expenditure. Because brown adipose tissue (BAT) dissipates energy in the form of heat, increasing energy expenditure by augmenting BAT-mediated thermogenesis may represent an approach to counter obesity and its complications. The ability of BAT to dissipate energy is dependent on expression of mitochondrial uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1). To facilitate the identification of pharmacological modulators of BAT UCP1 levels, which may have potential as antiobesity medications, we developed a transgenic model in which luciferase activity faithfully mimics endogenous UCP1 expression and its response to physiologic stimuli. Phenotypic screening of a library using cells derived from this model yielded a small molecule that increases UCP1 expression in brown fat cells and mice. Upon adrenergic stimulation, compound-treated mice showed increased energy expenditure. These tools offer an opportunity to identify pharmacologic modulators of UCP1 expression and uncover regulatory pathways that impact BAT-mediated thermogenesis.
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