Scherer Philipp E
Department of Cell Biology, Diabetes Research and Training Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Ave., Bronx, NY 10461, USA.
Diabetes. 2006 Jun;55(6):1537-45. doi: 10.2337/db06-0263.
Adipose tissue, when carried around in excessive amounts, predisposes to a large number of diseases. Epidemiological data show that the prevalence of obesity has significantly increased over the past 20 years and continues to do so at an alarming rate. Here, some molecular aspects of the key constituent of adipose tissue, the adipocyte, are reviewed. While the adipocyte has been studied for many years and remarkable insights have been gained about some processes, many areas of the physiology of the fat cell remain unexplored. Our understanding of how cellular events in the adipocyte affect the local environment through paracrine interactions and how systemic effects are achieved through endocrine interactions is rudimentary. While storage and release of lipids are major functions of adipocytes, the adipocyte also uses specific lipid molecules for intracellular signaling and uses a host of protein factors to communicate with essentially every organ system in the body. The intensity and complexity of these signals are highly regulated, differ in each fat pad, and are dramatically affected by various disease states.
当体内脂肪组织过多时，会引发多种疾病。流行病学数据显示，在过去20年里，肥胖症的患病率显著上升，且仍以惊人的速度持续增长。在此，本文将对脂肪组织的关键组成部分——脂肪细胞的一些分子层面进行综述。尽管脂肪细胞已被研究多年，在某些过程方面也取得了显著进展，但脂肪细胞生理学的许多领域仍有待探索。我们对于脂肪细胞中的细胞事件如何通过旁分泌相互作用影响局部环境，以及如何通过内分泌相互作用实现全身效应的理解仍很基础。虽然脂质的储存和释放是脂肪细胞的主要功能，但脂肪细胞还利用特定的脂质分子进行细胞内信号传导，并利用一系列蛋白质因子与体内几乎每个器官系统进行通信。这些信号的强度和复杂性受到高度调节，在每个脂肪垫中都有所不同，并且受到各种疾病状态的显著影响。
