Zic1 mRNA is transiently upregulated in subcutaneous fat of acutely cold‐exposed mice
Journal of Cellular Physiology
Published online on October 21, 2018
Abstract
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- "\nAbstract\nIn the mammalian adipose organ cold exposure not only activates typical
brown adipose tissue, but also induces browning, that is the formation of thermogenic
multilocular adipocytes in white, or predominantly white, adipose depots such as
subcutaneous fat. Unlike typical brown adipocytes, newly formed thermogenic adipocytes
have been reported not to express the gene zinc finger of the cerebellum 1 (Zic1).
Here, a time course approach enabled us to document a significant increase in \nZic1
messenger RNA in inguinal subcutaneous fat from acutely (24 hr) cold‐exposed mice,
which was paralleled by an increase in multilocular and paucilocular uncoupling
protein 1‐positive adipocytes and in parenchymal noradrenergic innervation. This
transient, depot‐specific molecular signature was associated not to \nZic1 promoter
demethylation, but to chromatin remodeling through an H3K9me3 histone modification.
These findings challenge the notion that \nZic1 is exclusively expressed by typical
brown adipocytes and suggest its involvement in brown adipocyte precursor differentiation
and/or white‐to‐brown adipocyte transdifferentiation."
- Journal of Cellular Physiology, EarlyView.