Non-shivering thermogenesis (NST) can significantly contribute to whole body energy expenditure and counteract development of obesity. Besides classical NST dependent on uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) in brown adipose tissue (BAT), alternative putative NST mechanisms raise attention of scientific community, namely those mechanisms located in skeletal muscle. However, how muscle NST is regulated and whether it can be adaptive, remains a matter of long-lasting controversy. The recent results of our laboratory comparing several rodent models, such as UCP1-deficient mice and murine strains differing in their propensity to obesity, suggest that UCP1-independent NST may play an important strain-specific role in resistance to both cold and obesity.

References:

Janovska, P., P. Zouhar, K. Bardova, J. Otahal, M. Vrbacky, T. Mracek, K. Adamcova, L. Lenkova, J. Funda, T. Cajka, Z. Drahota, S. Stanic, A. C. Rustan, O. Horakova, J. Houstek, M. Rossmeisl and J. Kopecky (2023) Impairment of adrenergically-regulated thermogenesis in brown fat of obesity-resistant mice is compensated by non-shivering thermogenesis in skeletal muscle. Mol Metab 69: 101683.

Oeckl, J., Janovska, P., - Adamcova,  K., Bardova, K., Brunner, S., Dieckmann, S., Ecker, J., Fromme, T., Funda, J, Gantert, T., Giansanti, P., Soledad Hidrobo, M., Kuda, O., Kuster, B., Li, Y., Pohl, R., Schmitt, S., Schweizer, S., Zischka, H., Zouhar, P., Kopecký, J. and  Klingenspor, M. (2022) Loss of UCP1 function augments recruitment of futile lipid cycling for thermogenesis in murine brown fat . Mol Metab 61: 101499 

Biography

Petr Zouhar is a junior researcher in Energy Metabolism Unit of Laboratory of Adipose Tissue Biology. Together with other members of the Unit, he is currently focused on thermal physiology, namely various thermogenic mechanisms and their potential role in prevention and reversion of development of obesity. On this topic, he also collaborates with colleagues from his postdoctoral stay at Stockholm University and in Novo Nordisk R&D centre in Copenhagen.

IPHYS contact person: Martin Rossmeisl, martin.rossmeisl@fgu.cas.cz