Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2017 Oct 4.
Published in final edited form as: Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol. 2016 Aug 24;17(11):691–702. doi: 10.1038/nrm.2016.96

Fig. 3. Development of beige adipocytes.

Fig. 3

(a) Possible mechanisms of beige adipocyte development in inguinal white adipose tissue (WAT). Different populations of precursors can be recruited by cold exposure or β-adrenergic signaling to differentiate into beige adipocytes. Pdgfrb+ mural cells, Myh11+ or SMA+ vascular smooth muscle cells, and Ebf2+; Pdgfrα+ adipogenic precursors have been reported to develop into beige adipocytes. EBF2, PRDM16, ZFP516 and PGC1α promote beige adipocyte differentiation. Myocardin-related transcription factor A (MRTFA) represses beige fat differentiation in smooth muscle-derived precursors. Cold-induced beige adipocytes lose the expression of UCP1 but can persist in the tissue after the cold stimulus is removed (for example, when the animals have warmed up). These de-activated beige cells have a white-like morphology but can be re-activated by an additional bout of cold or β-adrenergic signaling.

(b) In epididymal WAT, a high-fat diet can induce bipotent Pdgfrα+ precursors to differentiate into white adipocytes, whereas cold exposure or β-adrenergic stimulation induces the differentiation of these cells into beige adipocytes.