Scientists have discovered a hidden switch in the body that helps special fat cells, known as brown fat, burn calories and produce heat, especially when it’s cold.
This fat acts like a natural furnace, keeping us warm and lean by using up stored energy. The researchers found that when temperatures drop, a protein that normally blocks this process fades away, letting the fat cells kick into high gear. While it’s early days, this discovery could someday lead to new ways to boost metabolism and fight weight gain.
Brown Fat: Nature’s Internal Heater
Your body contains a special type of fat called brown fat, and it does something remarkable—it burns energy to generate heat. This process not only helps keep you warm but may also protect against weight gain and metabolic issues like diabetes.
Now, an international team of researchers led by Professor Alexander Bartelt from the Institute for Cardiovascular Prevention (IPEK) has uncovered a key mechanism that boosts the activity of these fat-burning cells. Their exciting findings, published in The EMBO Journal, could open the door to new ways of using brown fat to fight obesity and related diseases.
Cold-Driven Calorie Burning
Brown fat becomes especially active in the cold. It pulls energy from stored fat to fuel thermogenesis, the body’s natural heat production system. According to Bartelt, people who regularly expose themselves to colder temperatures can “train” their brown fat to become more efficient. These individuals tend to be leaner and less likely to develop cardiovascular disease or diabetes.
What makes brown fat so powerful? It’s packed with mitochondria, tiny energy factories in our cells. These mitochondria help burn fuel, but scientists are still working to understand exactly how this process can be amplified for health benefits.
Protein Switch Unlocks Thermogenesis
One of brown fat’s secret weapons is a molecule called uncoupling protein-1. It helps mitochondria produce heat instead of storing energy as ATP, the body’s standard energy currency. “The high metabolic activity of brown fat cells must also influence the production of ATP,” says Bartelt, “and we hypothesized that this process would be regulated by cold.”
Together with Brazilian colleagues from São Paulo, the researchers identified “inhibitory factor 1,” which ensures that ATP production is maintained instead of thermogenesis. When temperature goes down, the levels of inhibitory factor-1 fall, and thermogenesis can take place. When artificially increased, inhibitory factor 1 disrupts the activation of brown fat in the cold.
Awakening Dormant Heat Cells
These findings were obtained in isolated mitochondria, cultivated cells, and an animal model. “While we have found an important piece of the puzzle for understanding thermogenesis, therapeutic applications are still a long way off,” explains Dr. Henver Brunetta, who conducted the study.
According to the authors, most people use their brown fat too little, and it becomes dormant. The new study results indicate that there are molecular switches that allow mitochondria of brown fat cells to work better.
Bartelt and his colleagues plan to build on this discovery. “Ideally, we’ll find new ways, based on our data, to also restore the fitness of mitochondria in white fat cells, as most people have plenty if not too many of them,” concludes Bartelt.
Reference: “IF1 is a cold-regulated switch of ATP synthase hydrolytic activity to support thermogenesis in brown fat” by Henver S Brunetta, Anna S Jung, Fernando Valdivieso-Rivera, Stepheny C de Campos Zani, Joel Guerra, Vanessa O Furino, Annelise Francisco, Marcelo Berçot, Pedro M Moraes-Vieira, Susanne Keipert, Martin Jastroch, Laurent O Martinez, Carlos H Sponton, Roger F Castilho, Marcelo A Mori and Alexander Bartelt, 16 September 2024, The EMBO Journal.
DOI: 10.1038/s44318-024-00215-0
A version of this article was originally published in September 2024.
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1 Comment
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