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  • Year in Review
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Adipose tissue metabolism in 2012

Adipose tissue plasticity and new therapeutic targets

2012 has been a rewarding year for adipocyte research. A new type of brown-like adipocyte—the beige adipocyte—and irisin, a previously unknown hormone that stimulates the formation of such cells, have been discovered. A bipotential adipocyte progenitor giving rise to both brown and white adipocytes has also been identified.

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Figure 1: A hypothetical and schematic view of how soluble factors such as irisin, FGF-21, ANP as well as cold exposure could promote differentiation of beige adipocytes whereas a high-fat diet would induce bipotential adipocyte progenitors to differentiate into white adipocytes.

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S. Enerbäck is member of the scientific advisory board and shareholder of Ember Therapeutics.

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Enerbäck, S. Adipose tissue plasticity and new therapeutic targets. Nat Rev Endocrinol 9, 69–70 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrendo.2012.242

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