Skip to main content
. 2015 Feb 2;125(2):478–486. doi: 10.1172/JCI78362

Figure 2. Developmental origins of brown and beige adipocytes.

Figure 2

(A) Classical brown adipocytes originate from a subset of dermomyotomes that express En1, Pax7, and Myf5. Classical brown adipocytes express several markers, including Ucp1, Pgc1a, and Cidea, and classical brown-selective markers, such as Zic1. (B) Beige adipocytes in WAT originate from MYF5-negative PDGFRα-positive precursors of mesodermes. A subset of beige adipocytes arises from MYH11-positive smooth muscle–like precursors. Beige adipocyte differentiation is induced by environmental cues, such as chronic cold exposure, exercise, and PPARγ agonists. Beige adipocytes express several markers, including Ucp1, Pgc1a, and Cidea, and beige-selective markers, such as Cd137, Tbx1, Tmed26, and Cited1. These cells may be derived from (i) defined beige precursors, (ii) directed differentiation from white precursors, or (iii) transdifferentiation from white adipocytes in a differentiated state. The dashed lines represent hypothetical models that require further investigation.