Isolation and Characterization of Human Brown Adipocytes

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is a thermoregulatory fat with energy-consuming properties. The location and heterogeneity of this tissue makes it complicated to sample before and after interventions in humans, and an in vitro model for mechanistic and molecular studies is therefore of great value. We here describe a protocol for isolation of progenitors from the stromal vascular fraction of BAT biopsies obtained surgically from adult humans. We further present how these cells are differentiated in vitro and finally how they are characterized for thermogenic capacity. Methods for characterization described here include norepinephrine-induced thermogenic gene expression using qPCR; norepinephrine-induced mitochondrial uncoupling using the Seahorse XFe96 Analyzer, and norepinephrine-induced expression of UCP1 using the RNAscope® Technology.

Original languageEnglish
JournalMethods in Molecular Biology
Volume2448
Pages (from-to)217-234
Number of pages18
ISSN1064-3745
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

    Research areas

  • Adipogenesis, BAT in vitro model, Brown fat differentiation, Human BAT, Human brown adipocytes, Oxygen consumption rate in human brown adipocytes, UCP1 RNAscope

ID: 299199186