Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.
Subscribe

Sci. Signal., 28 August 2012
Vol. 5, Issue 239, p. ra62
[DOI: 10.1126/scisignal.2002867]

RESEARCH ARTICLES

Editor's Summary

Limiting the Formation of Brown Fat Cells
The second messenger cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) is required for the differentiation of brown adipocytes, which dissipate energy by generating heat (unlike white adipocytes, which store energy). Vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein (VASP) is a downstream effector of cGMP, and Jennissen et al. found that VASP participated in a negative feedback loop that decreased the production of cGMP. Brown and white preadipocytes from VASP-deficient mice showed enhanced differentiation. Furthermore, VASP-deficient mice showed enhanced responses to cold exposure (indicative of increased brown adipose tissue function), and their white adipose tissue showed evidence of "browning," a process in which white adipocytes acquire the characteristics of brown adipocytes. These results suggest that VASP could be pharmacologically targeted to enhance metabolism by stimulating the energy-dissipating activity of brown adipose tissue and making white adipose tissue behave like brown.

Citation: K. Jennissen, F. Siegel, M. Liebig-Gonglach, M.-R. Hermann, S. Kipschull, S. van Dooren, W. S. Kunz, R. Fässler, A. Pfeifer, A VASP-Rac–Soluble Guanylyl Cyclase Pathway Controls cGMP Production in Adipocytes. Sci. Signal. 5, ra62 (2012).

Read the Full Text

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Increased cGMP promotes healthy expansion and browning of white adipose tissue.
M. M. Mitschke, L. S. Hoffmann, T. Gnad, D. Scholz, K. Kruithoff, P. Mayer, B. Haas, A. Sassmann, A. Pfeifer, and A. Kilic (2013)
FASEB J 27, 1621-1630
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »

To Advertise     Find Products

Science Signaling. ISSN 1937-9145 (online), 1945-0877 (print). Pre-2008: Science's STKE. ISSN 1525-8882