Research
Hormonal
Beige/brite adipocytes, found interspersed in white adipose tissue, can be recruited and transformed into a brown fat-like phenotype through mechanisms involving PRDM16, beta-3-adrenergic stimulation, and cold exposure.
Your white fat contains 'beige' cells that can be activated by cold. This process, mediated by PRDM16, turns fat into a heat-producing tissue, potentially improving metabolic health.
ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
The development of these cells is enhanced by b3-adrenergic stimulation, chronic activation of PPARg, or adaptation to cold response... transgenic expression of PRDM16 in all adipose tissues results in a transformation of subcutaneous WAT to a brown fat –like phenotype.
Why this rating
Based on mouse models and some human imaging studies.
Source
Adipogenesis
K. Sarjeant et al. · Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology · 2012
DOI 10.1101/cshperspect.a008417
narrative_reviewCited 321×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- PPARg is the master regulator of adipocyte differentiation; its deletion prevents fat cell development, while its activation is sufficient to induce adipogenesis in non-adipocyte cell types.Good
- Brown adipose tissue (BAT) and beige/brite adipocytes within white adipose tissue (WAT) are metabolically active depots that can correct WAT pathologies and improve whole-body insulin sensitivity through thermogenesis mediated by UCP1.Moderate
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