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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2011 Apr 7.
Published in final edited form as: Cell Metab. 2010 Apr 7;11(4):257–262. doi: 10.1016/j.cmet.2010.03.005

Figure 1. Transcriptional control of brown fat development through PRDM16.

Figure 1

Figure 1

(A) Structure of PRDM16 and key domains of its function. PRDM16 directly interacts with canonical transcription factors such as PPARα, PPARγ and C/EBP family members and transcriptional co-activators PGC-1α and PGC-1β through the two sets of zinc finger domains (ZF1 and ZF2). PRDM16 is also associated with the co-repressors CtBP1 and 2 through its PLDLS motif. This interaction mediates the repressive action of PRDM16 on the expression of white fat cell-specific genes. (B) PRDM16-C/EBP-β transcriptional complex acts in myf5-positive myoblastic precursors or pre-adipocytes to induce the expression of PPARγ and PGC-1α. PRDM16 co-activates PPARγ and PGC-1α, which then drives a brown fat differentiation program. The cAMP-dependent thermogenic gene program is potentiated by FoxC2 and PRDM16. RIP140, Rb/p107, and Twist-1 antagonize the expression or transcriptional activity of PGC-1α and repress brown fat genetic program.