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Purple and white fluorescent stain of cells
How Fat Cells Help Kick Parasites Out of Mice: Study
Immune cells get a lot of shine when it comes to fighting infection, but it turns out that fat might be just as important for removing parasitic invaders.
How Fat Cells Help Kick Parasites Out of Mice: Study
How Fat Cells Help Kick Parasites Out of Mice: Study

Immune cells get a lot of shine when it comes to fighting infection, but it turns out that fat might be just as important for removing parasitic invaders.

Immune cells get a lot of shine when it comes to fighting infection, but it turns out that fat might be just as important for removing parasitic invaders.

adipose

Mouse heart cells that have taken up adipocyte-derived extracellular vesicles (stained red)
Fat Cells Send Mitochondrial Distress Signals to the Heart
Ruth Williams | Aug 20, 2021 | 3 min read
Vesicles containing fragments of the organelles released from stressed adipocytes protect the heart against oxygen deprivation, a study in mice shows.
brown fat, metabolism, cardiovascular disease, cardiometabolic disease, genetics & genomics, immunology, Q&A, adipose tissue, obesity
Q&A: Brown Fat Linked to Better Cardio and Metabolic Health
Amanda Heidt | Jan 12, 2021 | 5 min read
Paul Cohen of the Rockefeller University describes his study of thousands of people, finding that the energy-burning tissue is tied to a lower risk of for several diseases, including type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease.
Belly Fat Has a Role to Play in Fighting Infections
Selene Meza-Perez and Troy D. Randall | Oct 1, 2018 | 9 min read
Hanging in front of the abdomen like an apron, the depot of visceral fat known as the omentum helps regulate immune responses.
FDA Goes After Two Stem Cell Clinics
Kerry Grens | Aug 29, 2017 | 2 min read
The agency raided one that was using a stem cell-smallpox vaccine combo, and sent a warning to another to obey best practices.
Wiping Out Gut Bugs Stops Obesity
Kerry Grens | Nov 16, 2015 | 1 min read
In mice lacking intestinal microbiota, white fat turns brown and obesity is prevented.
Adding Padding
Karen Zusi | Nov 1, 2015 | 2 min read
Adipogenesis in mice has alternating genetic requirements throughout the animals’ lives.
Breaking the Cancer-Obesity Link
Laura W. Bowers, Stephen D. Hursting, and Ciara H. O’Flanagan | Nov 1, 2015 | 10 min read
Obese people are at higher risk for developing cancer, have worse prognoses once diagnosed, and are often resistant to chemotherapy regimens. The question is, Why?
A Complex Disorder
Stephen D. Hursting, Ciara H. O’Flanagan, and Laura W. Bowers | Oct 31, 2015 | 2 min read
Factors that likely contribute to obesity include disruptions to intercellular signaling, increased inflammation, and changes to the gut microbiome.
 
Warming Up to Brown Fat
Kerry Grens | Oct 8, 2015 | 6 min read
Scientists know how to turn on these fat-combusting cells. Can these energy burners be used to combat obesity?
Burn Victims Produce Brown Fat
Kerry Grens | Aug 7, 2015 | 2 min read
Following extreme trauma, patients’ adipose samples have revealed—for the first time in humans—that white fat can be converted into energy-burning brown fat.
Bone Marrow Makes New Fat Cells
Ashley P. Taylor | Jul 16, 2015 | 4 min read
The origins of adipocytes have been hotly debated, but a human study supports the idea that the bone marrow takes part. 
The Dark Side of Light
Kerry Grens | May 14, 2015 | 1 min read
Artificially extended days cause mice to gain fat and alter the function of their brown fat, a study shows.
Fat Injection Slims Obese Mice
Kerry Grens | Apr 7, 2015 | 1 min read
Transplanting energy-burning brown fat can prevent excess weight gain in a mouse model of obesity.
Drug Stimulates Brown Fat
Kerry Grens | Jan 28, 2015 | 1 min read
A small study finds that an approved medication increases metabolic rate and the activity of thermogenic brown fat in men.
Fat to the Rescue
Jenny Rood | Jan 5, 2015 | 2 min read
Adipocytes under the skin help fight infections by producing an antimicrobial agent.
Week in Review: October 6–10
Jef Akst | Oct 10, 2014 | 3 min read
Nobel Prizes awarded; transgenerational effects of mitochondrial mutations; fat-targeted gene knockdown; Ebola updates in Spain and U.S.
Week in Review: June 2–6
Tracy Vence | Jun 5, 2014 | 4 min read
The malnourished microbiome; innate immunity and beige fat; tools for stem cell self-renewal; predicting tomorrow’s PIs; MERS update
Activating Beige Fat
Kerry Grens | Jun 5, 2014 | 3 min read
An innate immune pathway stimulates the activity of heat-producing adipose tissue in mice.
Temperature-Sensing Fat Cells
Dan Cossins | Jul 1, 2013 | 3 min read
Researchers discover that unlike brown fat cells, white fat cells can directly sense cooling temperatures to switch on genes that control heat production.
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