title: The formation of brown adipose tissue induced by transgenic over-expression of PPARγ2.
abstract: Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is specialized to dissipate energy as heat, therefore reducing fat deposition and counteracting obesity. Brown adipocytes arise from myoblastic progenitors during embryonic development by the action of transcription regulator PRDM16 binding to PPARγ, which promotes BAT-like phenotype in white adipose tissue. To investigate the capability of converting white adipose tissue to BAT or browning by PPARγ in vivo, we generated transgenic mice with over-expressed PPARγ2. The transgenic mice showed strong brown fat features in subcutaneous fat in morphology and histology. To provide molecular evidences on browning characteristics of the adipose tissue, we employed quantitative real-time PCR to determine BAT-specific gene expressions. The transgenic mice had remarkably elevated mRNA level of UCP1, Elovl3, PGC1α and Cebpα in subcutaneous fat. Compared with wild-type mice, UCP1 protein levels were increased significantly in transgenic mice. ATP concentration was slightly decreased in the subcutaneous fat of transgenic mice. Western blotting analysis also confirmed that phosphorylated AMPK and ACC proteins were significantly (P<0.01) increased in the transgenic mice. Therefore, this study demonstrated that over-expression of PPARγ2 in skeletal muscle can promote conversion of subcutaneous fat to brown fat formation, which can have beneficial effects on increasing energy metabolisms and combating obesity.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Swine Genetics and Breeding of the Ministry of Agriculture, College of Animal Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Swine Genetics and Breeding of the Ministry of Agriculture, College of Animal Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China; Dept of Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Sciences, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, USA. Electronic address: jinzeng@hawaii.edu.
authors.forename: Jinzeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Swine Genetics and Breeding of the Ministry of Agriculture, College of Animal Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
authors.forename: Jinliang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Swine Genetics and Breeding of the Ministry of Agriculture, College of Animal Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Swine Genetics and Breeding of the Ministry of Agriculture, College of Animal Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
authors.forename: Dequan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Swine Genetics and Breeding of the Ministry of Agriculture, College of Animal Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zuo
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Swine Genetics and Breeding of the Ministry of Agriculture, College of Animal Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
authors.forename: Liming
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China.
authors.forename: Wangjun
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Swine Genetics and Breeding of the Ministry of Agriculture, College of Animal Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Swine Genetics and Breeding of the Ministry of Agriculture, College of Animal Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoliang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Swine Genetics and Breeding of the Ministry of Agriculture, College of Animal Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
authors.forename: Zhiyuan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Swine Genetics and Breeding of the Ministry of Agriculture, College of Animal Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China. Electronic address: renzq@mail.hzau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Zhuqing
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Swine Genetics and Breeding of the Ministry of Agriculture, College of Animal Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China. Electronic address: xiongyzy@163.com.
authors.forename: Yuanzhu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xiong
mesh_terms: D055372:AMP-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D000103:Acetyl-CoA Carboxylase / Q000378:metabolism; D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate / Q000378:metabolism; D002001:Adipose Tissue, Brown / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D052436:Adipose Tissue, White / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000378:metabolism; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D047495:PPAR gamma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D050151:Subcutaneous Fat / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D019076:Transgenes; D000071256:Uncoupling Protein 1; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D007473:Ion Channels; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins; D047495:PPAR gamma; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C000604371:UCP1 protein, human; C000604372:Ucp1 protein, mouse; D000071256:Uncoupling Protein 1; D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate; D055372:AMP-Activated Protein Kinases; D000103:Acetyl-CoA Carboxylase
keywords: Brown adipose tissue; Over-expression; PPARγ2; Transgenic mice; UCP1; White adipose tissue