Making Brown Fat Might Keep You Thin

New research from Nature presents a method of stimulating the production of brown fat, which might be used to treat obesity.  White adipose tissue, which stores extra caloric energy, is what people typically picture when thinking of fat.  White adipose can accumulate in excess and cause obesity, posing substantial health risk.  Brown Adipose Tissue (BAT) has a different function, helping keep organisms safe in cold conditions by using their numerous mitochondria to generate burn from the energy stored in lipids.  Dr. Bruce Spiegelman and his team knew that a protein, called PRDM16, was a molecular switch needed to start BAT formation, but they suspected it wasn’t alone.  Recently they found themselves to be correct, with C/EBP-beta being the missing factor.  With the two proteins working together, the scientists were able to implant the switch into fibroblasts, a type of connective tissue cells, and transform them into mature brown fat cells.  The lab transferred the newly differentiated cells into mice and found that the BAT did indeed burn extra energy.  Their next step is to assess the ability of these cells to help avoid or eliminate obesity and the associated risks.

For more information:

Information about BAT from Colorado State University :

            http://www.vivo.colostate.edu/hbooks/pathphys/misc_topics/brownfat.html

For more about this research :

            http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-07/dci-sce072709.php