Department of Nutrition, Diabetes and Metabolism, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.
Department of Nutrition, Diabetes and Metabolism, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile;
J Vis Exp. 2023 Feb 3(192). doi: 10.3791/64604.
Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is only present in mammals and has a thermogenic function. Brown adipocytes are characterized by a multilocular cytoplasm with multiple lipid droplets, a central nucleus, a high mitochondrial content, and the expression of uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1). BAT has been proposed as a potential therapeutic target for obesity and its associated metabolic disorders due to its ability to dissipate metabolic energy as heat. To investigate BAT function and regulation, brown adipocyte culturing is indispensable. The present protocol optimizes tissue processing and cell differentiation for culturing brown adipocytes from newborn mice. Additionally, procedures for the imaging of differentiated adipocytes with both confocal immunofluorescence and transmission electron microscopy are shown. In the brown adipocytes differentiated with the techniques described herein, the major defining features of classical BAT are preserved, including high UCP1 levels, increased mitochondrial mass, and very close physical contact between the lipid droplets and mitochondria, making this method a valuable tool for BAT studies.
棕色脂肪组织(BAT)仅存在于哺乳动物中,具有产热功能。棕色脂肪细胞的特征是具有多泡质,多个脂滴,中央核,高线粒体含量和解偶联蛋白 1(UCP1)的表达。由于 BAT 能够将代谢能以热量的形式消耗掉,因此它被认为是肥胖及其相关代谢紊乱的潜在治疗靶点。为了研究 BAT 的功能和调节,需要进行棕色脂肪细胞培养。本方案优化了从新生小鼠中培养棕色脂肪细胞的组织处理和细胞分化。此外,还展示了使用共聚焦免疫荧光和透射电子显微镜对分化的脂肪细胞进行成像的程序。在使用本文所述技术分化的棕色脂肪细胞中,保留了经典 BAT 的主要特征,包括高水平的 UCP1、增加的线粒体质量以及脂滴和线粒体之间非常紧密的物理接触,这使得该方法成为 BAT 研究的有力工具。
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