Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2017 Sep 12;7(4):1281-1306.
doi: 10.1002/cphy.c170001.

Brown and Beige Adipose Tissues in Health and Disease

Liangyou Rui  1
Affiliations
Review

Brown and Beige Adipose Tissues in Health and Disease

Liangyou Rui. Compr Physiol. .

Abstract

Brown and beige adipocytes arise from distinct developmental origins. Brown adipose tissue (BAT) develops embryonically from precursors that also give to skeletal muscle. Beige fat develops postnatally and is highly inducible. Beige fat recruitment is mediated by multiple mechanisms, including de novo beige adipogenesis and white-to-brown adipocyte transdifferentiaiton. Beige precursors reside around vasculatures, and proliferate and differentiate into beige adipocytes. PDGFRα+Ebf2+ precursors are restricted to beige lineage cells, while another PDGFRα+ subset gives rise to beige adipocytes, white adipocytes, or fibrogenic cells. White adipocytes can be reprogramed and transdifferentiated into beige adipocytes. Brown and beige adipocytes display many similar properties, including multilocular lipid droplets, dense mitochondria, and expression of UCP1. UCP1-mediated thermogenesis is a hallmark of brown/beige adipocytes, albeit UCP1-independent thermogenesis also occurs. Development, maintenance, and activation of BAT/beige fat are guided by genetic and epigenetic programs. Numerous transcriptional factors and coactivators act coordinately to promote BAT/beige fat thermogenesis. Epigenetic reprograming influences expression of brown/beige adipocyte-selective genes. BAT/beige fat is regulated by neuronal, hormonal, and immune mechanisms. Hypothalamic thermal circuits define the temperature setpoint that guides BAT/beige fat activity. Metabolic hormones, paracrine/autocrine factors, and various immune cells also play a critical role in regulating BAT/beige fat functions. BAT and beige fat defend temperature homeostasis, and regulate body weight and glucose and lipid metabolism. Obesity is associated with brown/beige fat deficiency, and reactivation of brown/beige fat provides metabolic health benefits in some patients. Pharmacological activation of BAT/beige fat may hold promise for combating metabolic diseases. © 2017 American Physiological Society. Compr Physiol 7:1281-1306, 2017.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. A schematic representation of the core thermal circuitry.
DRG: dorsal root ganglia. LPB: lateral parabrachial nucleus. MnPO: median preoptic subnucleus. MPA: medial preoptic area. DMH/DHA: dorsomedial hypothalamus/dorsal hypothalamic area. rRPa: the rostral raphe pallidus. IML: intermediolateral nucleus.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Abe Y, Rozqie R, Matsumura Y, Kawamura T, Nakaki R, Tsurutani Y, Tanimura-Inagaki K, Shiono A, Magoori K, Nakamura K, Ogi S, Kajimura S, Kimura H, Tanaka T, Fukami K, Osborne TF, Kodama T, Aburatani H, Inagaki T, and Sakai J. JMJD1A is a signal-sensing scaffold that regulates acute chromatin dynamics via SWI/SNF association for thermogenesis. Nat Commun 6: 7052, 2015. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ahmadian M, Abbott MJ, Tang T, Hudak CS, Kim Y, Bruss M, Hellerstein MK, Lee HY, Samuel VT, Shulman GI, Wang Y, Duncan RE, Kang C, and Sul HS. Desnutrin/ATGL is regulated by AMPK and is required for a brown adipose phenotype. Cell Metab 13: 739–748, 2011. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ahmadian M, Duncan RE, Varady KA, Frasson D, Hellerstein MK, Birkenfeld AL, Samuel VT, Shulman GI, Wang Y, Kang C, and Sul HS. Adipose overexpression of desnutrin promotes fatty acid use and attenuates diet-induced obesity. Diabetes 58: 855–866, 2009. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Almind K, Manieri M, Sivitz WI, Cinti S, and Kahn CR. Ectopic brown adipose tissue in muscle provides a mechanism for differences in risk of metabolic syndrome in mice. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 104: 2366–2371, 2007. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Altshuler-Keylin S, Shinoda K, Hasegawa Y, Ikeda K, Hong H, Kang Q, Yang Y, Perera RM, Debnath J, and Kajimura S. Beige Adipocyte Maintenance Is Regulated by Autophagy-Induced Mitochondrial Clearance. Cell Metab 24: 402–419, 2016. - PMC - PubMed

MeSH terms