Since the recent rediscovery of brown adipose tissue (BAT) in adult humans, this thermogenic tissue has been attracting increasing interest. The inverse relationship between BAT activity and body fatness suggests that BAT, because of its energy dissipating activity, is protective against body fat accumulation. Cold exposure activates and recruits BAT, resulting in increased energy expenditure … Read more
When we are exposed to sufficient cold or exercise, small clusters of brown fat cells in our bodies begin to burn up energy. Since 2009, when researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center and other institutions discovered that this helpful form of fat can be active in adults, scientists have sought to turn up the heat from … Read more
Brown adipocytes are promising cell targets to counteract obesity thanks to their potential to drain and oxidize circulating glucose and triglycerides. Pluripotent stem cells (PSCs), i.e., embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells, help gain insight into the different phases in the development of multiple cell types. Differentiation of human PSCs into thermogenic adipocytes … Read more
When cells change to a more specialized type, we call this process cellular differentiation. Scientists have revealed that protein secretions by skin cells known as keratinocytes control the differentiation of subsurface skin fat cells. This discovery could potentially help to treat obesity. Associate Professor Takehiko Ueyama and Professor Naoaki Saito at the Biosignal Research Center … Read more
Our bodies contain two types of fat: white fat and brown fat. While white fat stores calories, brown fat burns energy and could help us lose weight. Now, scientists at the University of Cambridge have found a way of making the white fat ‘browner’ and increasing the efficiency of brown fat. While their study was … Read more
Researchers from Germany and Finland have shown that so-called “brown fat” interacts with the gut hormone secretin in mice to relay nutritional signals about fullness to the brain during a meal. The study, appearing November 15 in the journal Cell, bolsters our understanding of a long-suspected role of brown adipose tissue (BAT) — a type … Read more
Better understanding of signals to burn energy may eventually lead to treatments for obesity. Sad but true, we don’t all respond equally to exercise. Researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center have uncovered a new kind of clue to this variable response — a hormone whose levels in the bloodstream rise sharply in exercise as well as … Read more
Fat-like molecules induced by cold help to turn-on calorie-burning fat and improve metabolism Activated by cold, the small amounts of brown fat scattered around your body can burn calories to warm you up. They also can help to lower insulin resistance and other conditions implicated in type 2 diabetes and obesity. Since the discovery in … Read more
Brown adipose tissue — main organ generating heat in the body- is also an endocrine organ that secretes signaling factors that activate the fat and carbohydrates metabolism. Key Points The activity of brown adipose tissue (BAT) is associated with protection against obesity and associated metabolic alterations such as insulin resistance Experimental evidence indicates that BAT … Read more