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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2020 Jul 13.
Published in final edited form as: Nat Metab. 2019 Mar 14;1(3):334–339. doi: 10.1038/s42255-019-0041-z

Figure 2: Target tissues and biological activity of adiponectin:

Figure 2:

Both adiponectin as well as its receptors are highly conserved between mouse and human. Most observations were made in rodents, but are supported by strong correlational data in the clinic. The physiological effects of adiponectin are therefore strongly preserved between rodents and humans. Adiponectin forms higher order structures through multimerization. The high molecular weight multimer (HMW) of adiponectin is the most biologically active form, targeting a diverse set of tissues and cell types and regulating important metabolic processes. Adiponectin’s effects range from anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic to insulin sensitizing.