title: Brown and Beige Fat: Molecular Parts of a Thermogenic Machine.
abstract: The epidemic of obesity and type 2 diabetes has increased interest in pathways that affect energy balance in mammalian systems. Brown fat, in all of its dimensions, can increase energy expenditure through the dissipation of chemical energy in the form of heat, using mitochondrial uncoupling and perhaps other pathways. We discuss here some of the thermodynamic and cellular aspects of recent progress in brown fat research. This includes studies of developmental lineages of UCP1(+) adipocytes, including the discovery of beige fat cells, a new thermogenic cell type. We also discuss the physiology and transcriptional control of brown and beige cells in rodents and the state of current knowledge about human brown fat.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Metabolism, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.affiliation: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA bruce_spiegelman@dfci.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Bruce M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Spiegelman
mesh_terms: D017667:Adipocytes / Q000502:physiology*; D002001:Adipose Tissue, Brown / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D003080:Cold Temperature; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000502:physiology; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000502:physiology; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins / Q000502:physiology; D013816:Thermodynamics; D022722:Thermogenesis / Q000502:physiology*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000502:physiology; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D000071256:Uncoupling Protein 1
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D007473:Ion Channels; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins; C416371:PRDM16 protein, human; D014157:Transcription Factors; C000604371:UCP1 protein, human; D000071256:Uncoupling Protein 1