Three-Dimensional Adipose Tissue Imaging Reveals Regional Variation in Beige Fat Biogenesis and PRDM16-Dependent Sympathetic Neurite Density
Open accessAbstract
While the cell-intrinsic pathways governing beige adipocyte development and phenotype have been increasingly delineated, comparatively little is known about how beige adipocytes interact with other cell types in fat. Here, we introduce a whole-tissue clearing method for adipose that permits immunolabeling and three-dimensional profiling of structures including thermogenic adipocytes and sympathetic innervation. We found that tissue architecture and sympathetic innervation differ significantly between subcutaneous and visceral depots. Subcutaneous fat demonstrates prominent regional variation in beige fat biogenesis with localization of UCP1+ beige adipocytes to areas with dense sympathetic neurites. We present evidence that the density of sympathetic projections is dependent on PRDM16 in adipocytes, providing another potential mechanism underlying the metabolic benefits mediated by PRDM16. This powerful imaging tool highlights the interaction of tissue components during beige fat biogenesis and reveals a previously undescribed mode of regulation of the sympathetic nervous system by adipocytes.
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WAT innervation is denser in specific regions of subcutaneous WAT and can be increased in response to cold.
“However, it is denser in specific regions of subcutaneous (or inguinal) WAT and can be increased in response to cold 70, 71.”
From Inter‐organ communication: a gatekeeper for metabolic health (2019) · cites this paper as [70]
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- Authors
- Chi, J., Wu, Z., Choi, C. H. J., Nguyen, L., Tegegne, S., Ackerman, S. E., Crane, A., Marchildon, F., Tessier-Lavigne, M., & Cohen, P.
- Affiliations
- Rockefeller University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Wu, Zhuhao
- Cohen, Paul
- ORCID
- Venue
- Cell Metabolism
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2018-01
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 226-236.e3
- ISSN
- 1550-4131 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2784121457
- Cited by
- 285
- References
- 24
- Citations by year
- 2026: 21 · 2025: 21 · 2024: 28 · 2023: 42 · 2022: 51 · 2021: 39 · 2020: 38 · 2019: 28 · 2018: 16
- FWCI
- 20.80
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Cell Metabolism (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Rockefeller University
- Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust
- Human Frontier Science Program (RGY0070)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Adipose Tissue and Metabolism
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Adipokines, Inflammation, and Metabolic Diseases
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptors
- Keywords
- beige adipocytes, brown adipose tissue, PRDM16, sympathetic innervation, thermogenesis, UCP1, subcutaneous adipose tissue, visceral fat, 3D imaging
- MeSH terms
- Adipose Tissue, Beige, Animals, DNA-Binding Proteins, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Sympathetic Nervous System, Transcription Factors, Neurites, Adipocytes, Mice, Knockout, Imaging, Three-Dimensional, Subcutaneous Fat, Intra-Abdominal Fat
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