Kuhn E, Binart N, Lombès M
Inserm U693, 94276 le Kremlin Bicêtre, France.
Ann Endocrinol (Paris). 2012 Oct;73 Suppl 1:S2-8. doi: 10.1016/S0003-4266(12)70009-4.
Three articles published in the NEJM in 2009 have renewed the interest for brown adipose tissue (BAT) in humans. This review reports interesting new findings on adipocyte cell types that have been presented at the last meeting of the Endocrine Society in Houston, TX, in June 2012. Many studies have focused on identifying factors involved in brown adipocyte lineage, the site of adaptive thermogenesis. Indeed, the role of the transcription factors, such as PRDM16, in brown adipocyte differentiation has been unambiguously established. Very recently, the concept of "beigeing", defined as the occurrence of thermogenic brown adipocytes in white adipose tissue, has emerged, leading to the identification, by Bruce Spiegelman's group, of a new muscular hormone, called irisin, which is able to stimulate the "beigeing". This finding should convey toward the discovery of new mutations involved in the pathogenesis of obesity and lipodystrophies, and should be translated into innovative therapeutic perspectives. Finally, the nature of BAT innervation has been clarified and the presence of an autoregulatory loop between BAT and notably hypothalamic paraventricular nuclei via the sensory and sympathetic nervous systems has been delineated. These feedback circuits appear to be crucial to control BAT thermogenic activity.
2009年发表在《新英格兰医学杂志》上的三篇文章重新引发了人们对人类棕色脂肪组织（BAT）的兴趣。本综述报告了2012年6月在德克萨斯州休斯顿举行的内分泌学会上所展示的关于脂肪细胞类型的有趣新发现。许多研究都集中在确定参与棕色脂肪细胞谱系（适应性产热的部位）的相关因素。事实上，转录因子如PRDM16在棕色脂肪细胞分化中的作用已得到明确证实。最近，“米色化”的概念出现了，即白色脂肪组织中出现产热的棕色脂肪细胞，这使得布鲁斯·斯皮格曼团队鉴定出一种名为鸢尾素的新肌肉激素，它能够刺激“米色化”。这一发现应该有助于发现肥胖症和脂肪营养不良发病机制中涉及的新突变，并应转化为创新的治疗前景。最后，棕色脂肪组织神经支配的本质已得到阐明，并且已经明确了棕色脂肪组织与下丘脑室旁核之间通过感觉和交感神经系统存在一个自动调节回路。这些反馈回路似乎对控制棕色脂肪组织的产热活动至关重要。
