科学家们已经部分揭示了脂肪细胞是如何转变为燃烧热卡的棕色脂肪的，该种脂肪在医学上被称作棕色脂肪组织，它们和与肥胖有关的白色脂肪不同。白色脂肪组织用我们的身体（特别是我们的腹部和大腿）作为其大型的储存单位。这些发现可帮助研究人员通过增加人们的棕色脂肪的储存来研发对抗肥胖症以及与肥胖症相关的疾病的方法，并甚至可能令其更快地燃烧热卡。
专题：Science系列
如今，Alexandros Vegiopoulos及其同僚发现，一种叫做COX-2的酶可触发小鼠的发育中的脂肪细胞变成棕色脂肪，而非白色脂肪。研究人员发现，通过遗传工程而可产生高浓度的COX-2的小鼠可更快地燃烧脂肪，它们还可受到保护而不会发生饮食所诱导的肥胖症。COX-2对体内生成前列腺素这种荷尔蒙样的物质是至关重要的，该物质会参与健康身体所需要的范围广泛的功能，其中包括免疫系统的调节。一篇相关的Perspective对这些发现进行了讨论。（生物谷Bioon.com）
SLEEP：睡眠不足易导致女性腰腹部肥胖
PNAS：肥胖基因变异与脑萎缩有关
Nature：解析肥胖基因的蛋白结构
Nature：严重肥胖可能由成段基因缺失导致
ISME Journal：基因与饮食和肥胖的关系
生物谷推荐原文出处：
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1186034
Cyclooxygenase-2 Controls Energy Homeostasis in Mice by de Novo Recruitment of Brown Adipocytes
Alexandros Vegiopoulos,1,* Karin Müller-Decker,2,* Daniela Strzoda,1 Iris Schmitt,1 Evgeny Chichelnitskiy,1 Anke Ostertag,1 Mauricio Berriel Diaz,1 Jan Rozman,3 Martin Hrabe de Angelis,3 Rolf M. Nüsing,4 Carola W. Meyer,5 Walter Wahli,6 Martin Klingenspor,7 Stephan Herzig1,
Obesity results from chronic energy surplus and excess lipid storage in white adipose tissue (WAT). In contrast, brown adipose tissue (BAT) efficiently burns lipids through adaptive thermogenesis. Studying mouse models, we show that cyclooxygenase (COX)–2, a rate-limiting enzyme in prostaglandin (PG) synthesis, is a downstream effector of β-adrenergic signaling in WAT and is required for the induction of BAT in WAT depots. PG shifted the differentiation of defined mesenchymal progenitors toward a brown adipocyte phenotype. Overexpression of COX-2 in WAT induced de novo BAT recruitment in WAT, increased systemic energy expenditure, and protected mice against high-fat diet–induced obesity. Thus, COX-2 appears integral to de novo BAT recruitment, suggesting that the PG pathway regulates systemic energy homeostasis.
1 Emmy Noether and Marie Curie Research Group Molecular Metabolic Control, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) Heidelberg, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
2 Core Facility Tumor Models, DKFZ-ZMBH Alliance, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) Heidelberg, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
3 Institute of Experimental Genetics, Helmholtz Center Munich, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany.
4 Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University, 60590 Frankfurt, Germany.
5 Department of Animal Physiology, Philipps University Marburg, 35043 Marburg, Germany.
6 Center for Integrative Genomics, National Research Center Frontiers in Genetics, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
7 Molecular Nutritional Medicine, Else-Kr?ner Fresenius Center, Technische Universit?t München, 85350 Freising-Weihenstephan, Germany.
