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Metabolism

Adenosine activates human and murine brown adipose tissue

Nature Reviews Endocrinology volume 11, page 3 (2015)Cite this article

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Adenosine stimulates energy expenditure in brown adipose tissue (BAT) of humans and mice, report Alexander Pfeifer and colleagues in Nature. These findings are in striking contrast with previous observations in hamsters and rats, in which adenosine inhibits the sympathetic activation of BAT following cold exposure.

Thermogenesis in BAT is activated by the sympathetic nervous system. Pfeifer and co-workers show that sympathetic stimulation triggers adenosine release in mice in vivo and that adenosine stimulates lipolysis in human and murine brown adipocytes in culture.

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References

  1. Gnad, T. et al. Adenosine activates brown adipose tissue and recruits beige adipocytes via A2A receptors. Nature 10.1038/nature13816

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Authors
  1. Joana Osório
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Osório, J. Adenosine activates human and murine brown adipose tissue. Nat Rev Endocrinol 11, 3 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrendo.2014.192

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