Lipidomic Adaptations in White and Brown Adipose Tissue in Response to Exercise Demonstrate Molecular Species-Specific Remodeling

Cell Reports. 2017 Feb 7;18(6):1558-1572

Francis J. May, Lisa A. Baer, Adam C. Lehnig, Kawai So, Emily Y. Chen, Fei Gao, Niven R. Narain, Liubov Gushchina, Aubrey Rose, Andrea I. Doseff, Michael A. Kiebish, Laurie J. Goodyear, and Kristin I. Stanford

White adipose tissue (WAT) and Brown adipose tissue (BAT) are modulators of metabolism. WAT stores fat and releases it as the body requires it. Increased levels of WAT are associated with type II diabetes and obesity. BAT is enriched with mitochondria, the energy-producing organelles within the cell. BAT is responsible for generating heat for the body from its fat stores to maintain warmth. Exercise has been shown to improve metabolic heath and increase fat mobilization from WAT. However, the effects of exercise on BAT are far less studied. With our collaborators from Joslin Diabetes, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and The Ohio State University, we explored the changes in lipid species in WAT and BAT in response to exercise in mice. Using BERG’s lipidomics analysis technology, we demonstrated that there are changes in several lipid species in response to exercise, and that BAT responds differently to exercise than WAT. This study lays the foundation for future investigations of the role of these changes in both WAT and BAT during exercise.

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