Level D· Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studiesAnimal StudyEurope PMCOpen access

Apoptotic brown adipocytes enhance energy expenditure via extracellular inosine

Niemann B., Haufs-Brusberg S., Puetz L., Feickert M., Jaeckstein MY., Hoffmann A.

Animal Study, published in Nature (2022) — summary generated from the PubMed abstract.

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Level D· Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studiesEvidence level of this study

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

  • Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
  • Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
  • Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
  • Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
  • Emerging · Emerging topic under active research
Read the A–D evidence level guide

This page is generated from the PubMed record. The Thai description is an automated summary of bibliographic fields and the abstract, not a full translation, and is not medical advice.

Study type
Animal Study
Journal
Nature (2022)
Reported sample size
—
Source database
Europe PMC
PMID
35790189
PMCID
PMC9452294
DOI
10.1038/s41586-022-05041-0
Citations
126

Abstract (original English)

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) dissipates energy 1,2 and promotes cardiometabolic health 3 . Loss of BAT during obesity and ageing is a principal hurdle for BAT-centred obesity therapies, but not much is known about BAT apoptosis. Here, untargeted metabolomics demonstrated that apoptotic brown adipocytes release a specific pattern of metabolites with purine metabolites being highly enriched. This apoptotic secretome enhances expression of the thermogenic programme in healthy adipocytes. This effect is mediated by the purine inosine that stimulates energy expenditure in brown adipocytes by the cyclic adenosine monophosphate-protein kinase A signalling pathway. Treatment of mice with inosine increased BAT-dependent energy expenditure and induced 'browning' of white adipose tissue. Mechanistically, the equilibrative nucleoside transporter 1 (ENT1, SLC29A1) regulates inosine levels in BAT: ENT1-deficiency increases extracellular inosine levels and consequently enhances thermogenic adipocyte differentiation. In mice, pharmacological inhibition of ENT1 as well as global and adipose-specific ablation enhanced BAT activity and counteracted diet-induced obesity, respectively. In human brown adipocytes, knockdown or blockade of ENT1 increased extracellular inosine, which enhanced thermogenic capacity. Conversely, high ENT1 levels correlated with lower expression of the thermogenic marker UCP

What this study does not prove

  • • This study does not prove SVF is an approved treatment or a replacement for standard care.
  • • This is preclinical work; animal or laboratory results cannot be applied to humans.

Evidence level

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

How we grade evidence
AnimalsHumansMiceObesityEquilibrative Nucleoside Transporter 1InosineEnergy MetabolismThermogenesisAdipose Tissue, BrownAdipose Tissue, White

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