title: Adipose Tissue and Energy Expenditure: Central and Peripheral Neural Activation Pathways.
abstract: Increasing energy expenditure is an appealing therapeutic target for the prevention and reversal of metabolic conditions such as obesity or type 2 diabetes. However, not enough research has investigated how to exploit pre-existing neural pathways, both in the central nervous system (CNS) and peripheral nervous system (PNS), in order to meet these needs. Here, we review several research areas in this field, including centrally acting pathways known to drive the activation of sympathetic nerves that can increase lipolysis and browning in white adipose tissue (WAT) or increase thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue (BAT), as well as other central and peripheral pathways able to increase energy expenditure of these tissues. In addition, we describe new work investigating the family of transient receptor potential (TRP) channels on metabolically important sensory nerves, as well as the role of the vagus nerve in regulating energy balance.
authors.affiliation: School of Biology and Ecology and Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Engineering, University of Maine, 5735 Hitchner Hall, Rm 301, Orono, ME, 04469, USA.
authors.forename: Magdalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Blaszkiewicz
authors.affiliation: School of Biology and Ecology and Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Engineering, University of Maine, 5735 Hitchner Hall, Rm 301, Orono, ME, 04469, USA. kristy.townsend@maine.edu.
authors.forename: Kristy L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Townsend
mesh_terms: D002001:Adipose Tissue, Brown / Q000378:metabolism*; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D002149:Energy Intake; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D006801:Humans; D009434:Neural Pathways; D009765:Obesity / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D013564:Sympathetic Nervous System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D022722:Thermogenesis; D050051:Transient Receptor Potential Channels
chemical_list: D050051:Transient Receptor Potential Channels
keywords: Brown adipose tissue (BAT); Central nervous system (CNS); Energy expenditure; Obesity; Sympathetic nervous system (SNS); Thermogenesis