BACKGROUND/AIMS Brown adipose tissue activation has been considered a potential anti-obesity mechanism because it is able to expend energy through thermogenesis. In contrast, white adipose tissue stores energy, contributing to obesity. We investigated whether the early programming of obesity by overfeeding during lactation changes structure of interscapular brown adipose tissue in adulthood and...

The developmental origins of brown adipose tissue and white adipose tissue are distinct, with brown adipocytes being derived from muscle precursors. PR domain containing 16, together with C/EBPbeta, forms a lineage-switching transcriptional complex which promotes brown fat differentiation and suppresses muscle cell differentiation.

Brown adipose tissue of the rat has been found to have an unusually high activity of mitohondrial alpha-glycerophosphate dehydrogenase (alpha-GPD) when assayed both by a histochemical staining procedure and by a quantitative biochemical method with isolated mitochondria. In contrast to succinic, glutamic, and beta-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenases, all mitochondrial enzymes, the activity of alpha-...

The white adipose organ is composed of both subcutaneous and several intra-abdominal depots. Excess abdominal adiposity is a major risk factor for metabolic disease in rodents and humans, while expansion of subcutaneous fat does not carry the same risks. Brown adipose produces heat as a defense against hypothermia and obesity, and the appearance of brown-like adipocytes within white adipose tis...

The effect of acclimation at different temperatures on the act iv i ty of interscapular brown adipose tissue has been i nves t i ga ted in the hamster, a h ibernator . Between 3l ~ and ~~ the cytochrome oxidase act iv i ty of the tissue increased z~_ to 5-fold, mitochondrial GDP binding per mg of mitochondrial protein doubled, and the amount of uncoupling protein rose from 1.7% to 5.4% of total...

The growing understanding of adipose tissue as an important endocrine organ with multiple metabolic functions has directed the attention to the (patho)physiology of distinct fat depots. Brown adipose tissue (BAT), in contrast to bona fide white fat, can dissipate significant amounts of chemical energy through uncoupled respiration and heat production (thermogenesis). This process is mediated by...