FatSubcutaneous fat in normal and diseased states: 2. Anatomy and physiology of white and brown adipose tissue
Section snippets
Adipose tissue anatomy
Adipocytes are organized in a multidepot organ called adipose tissue.7 Only one third of adipose tissue contains mature adipocytes. A combination of small blood vessels, nerve tissue, fibroblasts, and adipocyte precursor cells, known as preadipocytes, comprises the remaining two thirds. Mature adipocytes exist as two cytotypes, white and brown adipocytes. These two cell types are distinguished by differences in their color and function. WAT, which is yellow or ivory, contains predominantly
White adipose tissue
The physiology of WAT can be grouped into 3 main categories with potentially overlapping mechanisms: lipid metabolism, glucose metabolism, and endocrine functions (Fig 1).38
Brown adipose tissue
Although BAT and WAT both express many of the same adipocyte-specific genes needed for lipid synthesis and hydrolysis57 as well as secrete hormones that regulate energy homeostasis, such as leptin,58, 59 BAT has emerged as an independent organ with specific protein expression patterns and unique purpose.2 The mitochondrial protein UCP-1 (or thermogenin), which is expressed exclusively in BAT,58 is responsible for mediating the basic function of brown fat cells, namely the transfer of energy
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Conflicts of interest: None identified.