Fig. 1.

Adipose tissue types, location, and browning process. White adipocytes are large unilocular droplets enriched with a small number of small mitochondria, with a little UCP1 expression. In contrast, brown adipocytes are small multilocular with dense mitochondria with a high UCP1 expression. White adipose tissue is predominant in amount, supporting energy storage, and metabolically less active. On the other hand, brown adipose tissue is metabolically active, produces heat energy, promotes thermogenesis and browning (beige adipocytes) and reduces inflammation. White adipocytes can convert into brown adipocytes via cold stimulus, sympathetic nervous system (SNS) overdrive, and β3-agonism. UCP1, uncoupling protein 1