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.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Thermogenesis

Brown fat has a sweet tooth

Nature Metabolism volume 5, pages 1080–1081 (2023)Cite this article

Subjects

An elegant quantitative analysis of brown fat and skeletal muscle metabolite flux reveals unpredicted fuel usage during thermogenesis, which suggests that brown fat predominantly uses glucose and lactate and acts as a nitrogen scavenger.

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

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

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

Fig. 1: Arteriovenous metabolomics define fuels of thermogenesis.

References

  1. Chouchani, E. T. & Kajimura, S. Nat. Metab. 1, 189–200 (2019).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Giroud, M., Jodeleit, H., Prentice, K. J. & Bartelt, A. J. Physiol. 600, 1189–1208 (2022).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Park, G. et al. Nat. Metab. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-023-00825-8 (2023).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Bartelt, A. et al. Nat. Med. 17, 200–205 (2011).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Heine, M. et al. Cell Metab. 28, 644–655.e4 (2018).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Sanchez-Gurmaches, J. et al. Cell Metab. 27, 195–209.e6 (2018).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Schlein, C. et al. Cell Rep. 34, 108624 (2021).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Cannon, B. & Nedergaard, J. Physiol. Rev. 84, 277–359 (2004).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Labbé, S. M. et al. Sci. Rep. 6, 37223 (2016).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Bartelt, A. et al. Nat. Med. 24, 292–303 (2018).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  11. Kong, X. et al. Cell Metab. 28, 631–643.e3 (2018).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  12. Leiria, L. O. et al. Cell Metab. 30, 768–783.e7 (2019).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  13. Shen, J., Yao, J.-F., Tanida, M. & Nagai, K. Neurosci. Lett. 441, 100–104 (2008).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Mills, E. L. et al. Nature 560, 102–106 (2018).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  15. Reddy, A. et al. Cell 183, 62–75.e17 (2020).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

A.B. was supported by the German Center for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK) and the ERC Starting Grant PROTEOFIT.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Cardiovascular Prevention (IPEK), Ludwig Maximilians University Munich, Munich, Germany

    Imke L. Lemmer & Alexander Bartelt

  2. Institute for Diabetes and Cancer (IDC), Helmholtz Center Munich, Neuherberg, Germany

    Imke L. Lemmer & Alexander Bartelt

  3. German Center for Cardiovascular Research, Partner Site Munich Heart Alliance, Munich, Germany

    Alexander Bartelt

  4. Department of Molecular Metabolism, Sabri Ülker Center for Metabolic Research, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA

    Alexander Bartelt

Authors
  1. Imke L. Lemmer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Alexander Bartelt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

I.L.L. wrote the manuscript and created the original figure with the help of A.B. Both authors read and commented on the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alexander Bartelt.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Lemmer, I.L., Bartelt, A. Brown fat has a sweet tooth. Nat Metab 5, 1080–1081 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-023-00824-9

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-023-00824-9

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing: Translational Research

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Translational Research newsletter — top stories in biotechnology, drug discovery and pharma.

Get what matters in translational research, free to your inbox weekly. Sign up for Nature Briefing: Translational Research