Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Year in Review
  • Published:

Adipose tissue in 2016

Advances in the understanding of adipose tissue biology

Adipose tissues have a central role in energy homeostasis, as they secrete adipokines and regulate energy storage and dissipation. Novel adipokines from white, brown and beige adipocytes have been identified in 2016. Identifying the specific receptors for each adipokine is pivotal for developing greater insights into the fat-derived signalling pathways that regulate energy homeostasis.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: The regulation of systemic glucose homeostasis and insulin sensitivity through adipokines.

References

  1. Sinha, G. Leptin therapy gains FDA approval. Nat. Biotechnol. 32, 300–302 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Romere, C. et al. Asprosin, a fasting-induced glucogenic protein hormone. Cell 165, 566–579 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Virtanen, K. A. et al. Functional brown adipose tissue in healthy adults. N. Engl. J. Med. 360, 1518–1525 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Villarroya, F., Cereijo, R., Villarroya, J. & Giralt, M. Brown adipose tissue as a secretory organ. Nat. Rev. Endocrinol. 13, 26–35 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Shinoda, K. et al. Genetic and functional characterization of clonally derived adult human brown adipocytes. Nat. Med. 21, 389–394 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Kajimura, S., Spiegelman, B. M. & Seale, P. Brown and beige fat: physiological roles beyond heat generation. Cell Metab. 22, 546–559 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Min, S. Y. et al. Human 'brite/beige' adipocytes develop from capillary networks, and their implantation improves metabolic homeostasis in mice. Nat. Med. 22, 312–318 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Long, J. Z. et al. The secreted enzyme PM20D1 regulates lipidated amino acid uncouplers of mitochondria. Cell 166, 424–435 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Svensson, K. J. et al. A secreted Slit2 fragment regulates adipose tissue thermogenesis and metabolic function. Cell Metab. 23, 454–466 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Berry, D. C., Jiang, Y. & Graff, J. M. Mouse strains to study cold-inducible beige progenitors and beige adipocyte formation and function. Nat. Commun. 7, 10184 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shingo Kajimura.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing financial interests.

PowerPoint slides

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Kajimura, S. Advances in the understanding of adipose tissue biology. Nat Rev Endocrinol 13, 69–70 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrendo.2016.211

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrendo.2016.211

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing