Regulation of thermogenesis in Brown and Beige Adipose Tissues |Biomedgrid

Obesity and related metabolic syndromes are among the top public health issues worldwide. The current strategy is mainly based on controlling food intake, unable to achieve the optimal treatment effect. How to augment energy expenditure becomes a new focus. White adipose tissue (WAT) is a classic energy storage depot, whereas brown adipose tissue (BAT) dissipates energy through thermogenesis. Browning of WAT facilitates the transformation from WAT into beige adipose tissue acquiring modest thermogenic activity. Enhancement of thermogenic function of both BAT and beige adipose tissue highlights a novel perspective to dissipate excess stored energy and reduce lipid deposition. In this review, we systematically summarize the current regulatory mechanisms of thermogenesis revealed in BAT and beige adipose tissue, including the thermogenic function of mitochondria, the crosstalk between macrophages and adipocytes, endoplasmic reticulum stress as well as proteasome activity. Additionally, we discuss the underlying signaling network to regulate relevant gene expression involved in these four aspects so as to provide a better understanding for therapeutic strategy design to treat obesity and related metabolic diseases.