Although it is now accepted that adult humans possess active brown adipose tissue, it has been questioned whether this is genuine classical brown adipose tissue. Two new studies provide evidence that humans, both as babies and adults, do have classical brown tissue and also indicate that there is heterogeneity in the composition of brown fat depots in humans, as in mice (pages 631–634 and 635–639).
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Relevant articles
Open Access articles citing this article.
-
A miR-327–FGF10–FGFR2-mediated autocrine signaling mechanism controls white fat browning
Nature Communications Open Access 12 December 2017
-
Functional characterization of the Ucp1-associated oxidative phenotype of human epicardial adipose tissue
Scientific Reports Open Access 14 November 2017
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$209.00 per year
only $17.42 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Katie Vicari
References
Smith, R.E. Science 146, 1686–1689 (1964).
Heaton, G.M., Wagenvoord, R.J., Kemp, J.A. & Nicholls, D.G. Eur. J. Biochem. 82, 515–521 (1978).
Lin, C.S. & Klingenberg, M. FEBS Lett. 113, 299–303 (1980).
Nedergaard, J., Bengtsson, T. & Cannon, B. Am. J. Physiol. Cell Physiol. 293, E444–E452 (2007).
Atit, R. et al. Dev. Biol. 296, 164–176 (2006).
Timmons, J.A. et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 104, 4401–4406 (2007).
Seale, P. et al. Nature 454, 961–967 (2008).
Petrovic, N. et al. J. Biol. Chem. 285, 7153–7164 (2010).
Wu, J. et al. Cell 150, 366–376 (2012).
Lidell, M.E. et al. Nat. Med. 19, 631–634 (2013).
Cypess, A.M. et al. Nat. Med. 19, 635–639 (2013).
Seale, P. et al. Cell Metab. 6, 38–54 (2007).
Walden, T.B., Hansen, I.R., Timmons, J.A., Cannon, B. & Nedergaard, J. Am. J. Physiol. Cell Physiol. 302, E19–E31 (2012).
Zingaretti, M.C. et al. FASEB J. 23, 3113–3120 (2009).
Lee, P., Swarbrick, M.M., Zhao, J.T. & Ho, K.K. Endocrinology 152, 3597–3602 (2011).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
J.N. is a member of the scientific advisory board and a shareholder in Ember Pharmaceuticals. B.C. is a member of the scientific and medical advisory board of Metabolic Solutions Development Corporation.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Nedergaard, J., Cannon, B. How brown is brown fat? It depends where you look. Nat Med 19, 540–541 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.3187
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.3187
This article is cited by
-
Depot-specific UCP1 expression in human white adipose tissue and its association with obesity-related markers
International Journal of Obesity (2020)
-
Neues und praktisch Relevantes aus der gynäkologischen Endokrinologie und Reproduktionsmedizin: Teil 2
Gynäkologische Endokrinologie (2018)
-
A miR-327–FGF10–FGFR2-mediated autocrine signaling mechanism controls white fat browning
Nature Communications (2017)
-
Functional characterization of the Ucp1-associated oxidative phenotype of human epicardial adipose tissue
Scientific Reports (2017)
-
Epicardial adipose tissue as a metabolic transducer: role in heart failure and coronary artery disease
Heart Failure Reviews (2017)
