Study Stimulates Beige Fat Generation in Aging Mice

By stimulating the production of beige adipocytes, the effects of a slowing metabolism could be reversed, according to a new study by Cornell researchers published in Nature Communications.

Beige fat has the same cellular precursors as white fat and the same thermogenic properties as brown fat, which means it helps to reduce blood sugar and the fatty acids that cause hardening of the arteries and heart disease. When a person experiences sustained exposure to cold temperatures, stem cells known as adipose progenitor cells form thermogenic beige fat cells within white fat. As people age, the response to that stimulus weakens, tipping the balance toward white fat production.

“There are seasonal changes in beige fat in young humans,” said Dan Berry, senior author of the study, “but an older person would have to stand outside in the snow in their underwear to get those same effects.”

In earlier work, Berry observed that the aging process impairs the formation of beige fat cells in response to cold temperatures. Identify the biochemistry behind the slowdown, he said, and the same process could be reversed to achieve therapeutic outcomes.

“This is the ultimate goal,” said Abigail Benvie, lead author of the new study. “Without having to subject people to cold exposure for prolonged periods of time, are there metabolic pathways we can stimulate that could produce the same effect?”

In the paper, they reveal the role of a specific signaling pathway that suppresses beige fat formation in older mice by antagonizing the immune system. By suppressing that pathway in aging mice, the scientists were able to prompt beige fat production in animals that otherwise formed only in white adipose tissue.