The «browning»
of white fat cells is thought to be initiated by things like exercise, exposure to cold temperatures, and our sleep hormone melatonin.
A more recent study found that cold applied to human neck fat initiated the conversion [21]
of white fat cells into brown ones.
Whitehead Institute researchers report that 10 long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play a vital role in the regulation
of white fat cells.
Furthermore, he demonstrated that a class of drugs often used in the treatment of diabetes also reduces the harmful effects
of white fat cells on bones.
In their recent study, the UCSF team reports the discovery that a class of commonly prescribed Type - 2 diabetes drugs, called TZDs (thiazolidinediones, such as Actos and Avandia), promoted the conversion
of white fat cells into brown (in mice and culture dishes) by stabilizing the PRDM16 protein.
As the researchers have shown in various studies on mice, the widespread active ingredient sildenafil or a medication against pulmonary hypertension, for instance, can be used to reduce the number
of white fat cells to the benefit of the brown fat cells and thus accelerate fat burning like a turbocharger.
The study shows that activating the bile acid receptor TGR5 with molecules that mimic the action of bile acids (so called «mimetics») induces a remodeling
of white fat cells into beige fat cells.
«The discovery of the «brite» fat cell mechanisms and the specific regulatory areas brings us closer to understanding how reprogramming
of white fat cells takes place.
Not exact matches
In the study, mice were given food until they became obese, and were then fed the drug, which increases the cellular metabolism
of obesity - linked
white fat cells.
The seemingly more respectable Pharmacy News reported, «
White tea contains catechins, which inhibit the process
of fat cell generation by stimulating thermogenesis.
And it's a production powerhouse, full
of life - giving stem
cells — pumping out red blood
cells,
white blood
cells, bone
cells, and
fat cells.
Colostrum consists
of high concentrations
of immunoglobulins, maternal antibodies that protect your baby's immune system, as well as
white blood
cells, water, protein,
fat, minerals, vitamins and carbs.
Mature milk is comprised mostly
of fat, water, carbohydrates, vitamins, protein, minerals, enzymes, amino acids and
white blood
cells.
The study, recently published in
Cell Metabolism, also found that beige
fat, unlike the better - known
white and brown
fat, has interesting anti-diabetic effects on blood sugar metabolism that seem independent
of temperature regulation.
Some
white fat cells are capable
of transforming into a third kind
of fat, beige.
In the laboratory, irisin and FGF21 turn human
white fat cells into brown
fat cells over a period
of six days.
Other research groups are also generating promising results through the use
of drugs to convert
white fat cells into brown
fat and through discoveries
of the pathways and hormones that control brown
fat metabolism.
Previous studies have found that brown
fat can be coaxed into action by activating the β3 - adrenergic receptor, which is expressed on the surfaces
of brown and
white fat cells, as well as on
cells of the urinary bladder and other tissues.
When exposed to cold, clusters
of cells within the body's
white fat become beige — a color change that reflects the creation
of more energy - producing mitochondria, cellular components that enable
cells to burn calories and give off heat.
The group is planning future studies that look at the effect
of activating ERRγ in
white fat cells — which they suspect could make some
white fat resemble brown
fat, and potentially help treat obesity and diabetes.
In the current study, Joslin scientists were interested in learning more about miRNAs and their role in the creation
of fat cells and the function
of brown and
white fat.
In mice, this form
of lipodystrophy was also characterized by «whitening»
of brown
fat cells, a loss
of white fat, and signs
of metabolic syndrome, including insulin resistance,
fat tissue inflammation, dyslipidemia (elevated cholesterol and
fat), increased resting energy use, and increased markers
of cardiovascular disease.
Fat accelerates aging After examining 1,122 adult women, molecular biologist Tim Spector
of St. Thomas» Hospital in London concluded that extra pounds can age
white blood
cells as much as 8.8 years.
The challenge is to reprogram the energy storing
white fat cells into so - called «brite» (brown - in -
white)
fat cells in the body's
white adipose tissue and thus make adipose tissue burn off excess energy as heat instead
of storing it.
Now researchers from the University
of Southern Denmark have uncovered the mechanism by which
white fat cells from humans get reprogrammed to become browner.
The fact is that one
of the key differences between «beige
fat», which appears when administering melatonin, and «
white fat», is that «beige
fat»
cell mitochondria express levels
of UCP1 protein, responsible for burning calories and generating heat.
Researchers have turned their attention to these
cells because some
of the sugar and
fat they burn is stored in the body and might otherwise lead to increases in
white fat, the form that increases in obesity.
«What is exciting about our discovery is that low concentrations
of TGR5 - selective molecules are sufficient to promote the beiging
of white fat - storing
cells, thereby bypassing the need to increase the total bile acid pool,» says Laura Velazquez, first - author
of the paper.
The findings, published today in the journal
Cell, give new insights into how the brain regulates body
fat and may lead to more effective ways to lose weight and prevent obesity by promoting the conversion
of white fat to brown
fat.
There are three different types
of fat cells:
white fat cells, which store energy; brown
fat cells, which expend energy; and the so - called «beige»
fat cells, which are functionally related to brown
cells while being located in typically
white -
fat depots.
In the new paper, Kajimura's team collaborated with the laboratory
of Yasushi Ishihama, PhD,
of the University
of Kyoto, Japan, to search for differences in how
white and brown
fat cells respond to the cold using a technique called phosphoproteomics.
When they exposed these mice to the cold, the animals developed far fewer beige
fat cells than did normal animals, suggesting that macrophages were key to browning
of white fat.
The omentum's immune functions come from groups
of small,
white filters located among the
fat cells.
Activating RXR triggered a cascade
of changes in muscle precursor
cells and
white fat that ultimately converted them into brown
fat - like
cells.
Scientists at the University
of Bonn have shown in mice that excess pounds can simply be melted away by converting unwanted
white fat cells into energy - consuming brown slimming
cells.
Prof. Dr. Alexander Pfeifer from the Institute
of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University
of Bonn has spent years researching how harmful
white fat cells can be converted into desirable brown
fat cells.
The brown
cells possess an extremely high number
of mitochondria — these
cell power stations «burn»
white fat by converting it into thermal energy.
More beige
fat cells and fewer
white fat cells could reduce the symptoms or negative health outcomes
of metabolic diseases like diabetes, obesity.
Now, however, a team
of researchers led by Yu - Hua Tseng, Ph.D., Investigator in the Section on Integrative Physiology and Metabolism at Joslin Diabetes Center and an Associate Professor
of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, has created
cell lines
of human brown and
white fat precursor
cells that will help investigators to pick apart the factors that drive the development and activity
of each type
of cell.
The scientists discovered that when cBAT is deficient, cBAT
cells send a signal through the sympathetic nervous system to increase production
of rBAT within
white fat.
Detection
of this CD29 marker eventually may help in selecting
white fat precursor
cells that can be transformed for obesity treatments, Dr. Tseng comments.
Using
white fat tissue from liposuction or weight - loss surgery, «we might purify a population
of these progenitor
cells from an obese individual expressing C29 with high potential to become energy - dissipating
cells,» she explains.
In analyses
of the
cell lines, precursor
white fat cells from two subjects responded strongly to BMP7 but such
cells from the other two subjects did not.
In one example, Dr. Tseng's group previously had shown that exposing precursor
white fat cells to a protein known as BMP7 helps to spur the creation
of brown
fat cells.
Mice that received normal levels
of prenatal vitamin A, from a regular diet, were born with more
fat - loading
white fat cells, fewer brown
fat cells and fewer blood vessels.
The team says that this is a result
of the oil triggering receptors in the digestive tract, activating the sympathetic nervous system and converting
white fat cells into the beige variety.
It's secreted by the adipose tissue, largely, but also a number
of other tissues have been shown to produce leptin, but the major source is the
white adipose tissue which is basically
fat cells.
Added to this is the fact that
white fat also damages the hematopoietic stem
cells of bone marrow which could results in reduced blood
cell formation in bone with excess fatty infiltration.
December 21, 2016 — Noteworthy NIH advances in basic research include an expanded map
of the human brain, nanoparticles that convert
white fat to calorie - burning brown
fat, and a 3 - D
cell culture model
of the placenta.
Unlike ubiquitous
white fat cells, which lounge around storing
fat, rarer brown ones burn
fat at a higher rate as part
of a duty to keep us warm.