In vivo emergence of beige-like fat in chickens as physiological adaptation to cold environments
Open Access
- 17 February 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Amino Acids
- Vol. 53 (3), 381-393
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s00726-021-02953-5
Abstract
While it has been hypothesized that brown adipocytes responsible for mammalian thermogenesis are absent in birds, the existence of beige fat has yet to be studied directly. The present study tests the hypothesis that beige fat emerges in birds as a mechanism of physiological adaptation to cold environments. Subcutaneous neck adipose tissue from cold-acclimated or triiodothyronine (T3)-treated chickens exhibited increases in the expression of avian uncoupling protein (avUCP, an ortholog of mammalian UCP2 and UCP3) gene and some known mammalian beige adipocyte-specific markers. Morphological characteristics of white adipose tissues of treated chickens showed increased numbers of both small and larger clusters of multilocular fat cells within the tissues. Increases in protein levels of avUCP and mitochondrial marker protein, voltage-dependent anion channel, and immunohistochemical analysis for subcutaneous neck fat revealed the presence of potentially thermogenic mitochondria-rich cells. This is the first evidence that the capacity for thermogenesis may be acquired by differentiating adipose tissue into beige-like fat for maintaining temperature homeostasis in the subcutaneous fat ‘neck warmer’ in chickens exposed to a cold environment.Keywords
Funding Information
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science London (15H04582)
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (16H06205, Core-to-Core)
This publication has 60 references indexed in Scilit:
- Crucial Role of Membrane Potential in Heat Stress-Induced Overproduction of Reactive Oxygen Species in Avian Skeletal Muscle MitochondriaPLOS ONE, 2013
- Bi-directional interconversion of brite and white adipocytesNature, 2013
- Human BAT Possesses Molecular Signatures That Resemble Beige/Brite CellsPLOS ONE, 2012
- The adipose organ of obesity-prone C57BL/6J mice is composed of mixed white and brown adipocytesJournal of Lipid Research, 2012
- The emergence of cold-induced brown adipocytes in mouse white fat depots is determined predominantly by white to brown adipocyte transdifferentiationAmerican Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism, 2010
- Beige Can Be SlimmingScience, 2010
- Chronic Peroxisome Proliferator-activated Receptor γ (PPARγ) Activation of Epididymally Derived White Adipocyte Cultures Reveals a Population of Thermogenically Competent, UCP1-containing Adipocytes Molecularly Distinct from Classic Brown AdipocytesJournal of Biological Chemistry, 2010
- Up-regulation of avian uncoupling protein in cold-acclimated and hyperthyroid ducklings prevents reactive oxygen species production by skeletal muscle mitochondriaBMC Physiology, 2010
- The brown adipocyte differentiation pathway in birds: An evolutionary road not takenBMC Biology, 2008