Editor's Summary
21 August 2008
Fat cell fate: PRDM16 switches myoblasts to brown fat
There are two types of fat or adipose tissue in the human body, brown fat, with the primary function of burning calories to generate body heat, and white fat, which acts as an energy store. Now the surprise finding that brown fat cells are a derivative of the skeletal muscle lineage may prompt a rethink on our view of the relationship between these two tissues. Previously most models of fat development have suggested that brown and white fat cells arise from a common adipogenic precursor cell, but in vivo lineage tracing shows that brown fat cells arise from myoblastic cells that express the Myf5 gene, a marker thus far found only in muscle cells. And PRDM16, a zinc-finger protein known to stimulate brown fat-selective gene expression, can powerfully regulate the bidirectional cell fate switch between muscle and brown fat. As a dominant regulator of the brown fat cell fate, PRDM16 may have potential use therapeutically in obesity, as may compounds able to induce PRDM16 expression in white fat or muscle progenitors.
News and Views: Developmental biology: Neither fat nor flesh
In mammals, white adipose tissue stores fat, whereas brown adipose tissue burns fat. Brown adipocytes have a common origin with muscle cells, which could help explain their unusual function.
Barbara Cannon & Jan Nedergaard
doi:10.1038/454947a
Article: PRDM16 controls a brown fat/skeletal muscle switch
Patrick Seale, Bryan Bjork, Wenli Yang, Shingo Kajimura, Sherry Chin, Shihuan Kuang, Anthony Scimè, Srikripa Devarakonda, Heather M. Conroe, Hediye Erdjument-Bromage, Paul Tempst, Michael A. Rudnicki, David R. Beier & Bruce M. Spiegelman
doi:10.1038/nature07182
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (953K) | Supplementary information
