Brown Adipose Tissue Thermogenic Capacity Is Regulated by Elovl6
Chong Yew Tan,
Samuel Virtue,
Guillaume Bidault,
Martin Dale,
Rachel Hagen,
Julian L. Griffin,
Antonio Vidal-Puig
Affiliations
Chong Yew Tan
University of Cambridge Metabolic Research Laboratories, Wellcome Trust-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK
Samuel Virtue
University of Cambridge Metabolic Research Laboratories, Wellcome Trust-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK
Guillaume Bidault
University of Cambridge Metabolic Research Laboratories, Wellcome Trust-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK
Martin Dale
University of Cambridge Metabolic Research Laboratories, Wellcome Trust-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK
Rachel Hagen
University of Cambridge Metabolic Research Laboratories, Wellcome Trust-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK
Julian L. Griffin
Medical Research Council Human Nutrition Research, Cambridge CB1 9NL, UK
Antonio Vidal-Puig
University of Cambridge Metabolic Research Laboratories, Wellcome Trust-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK
Although many transcriptional pathways regulating BAT have been identified, the role of lipid biosynthetic enzymes in thermogenesis has been less investigated. Whereas cold exposure causes changes in the fatty acid composition of BAT, the functional consequences of this remains relatively unexplored. In this study, we demonstrate that the enzyme Elongation of Very Long Chain fatty acids 6 (Elovl6) is necessary for the thermogenic action of BAT. Elovl6 is responsible for converting C16 non-essential fatty acids into C18 species. Loss of Elovl6 does not modulate traditional BAT markers; instead, it causes reduced expression of mitochondrial electron transport chain components and lower BAT thermogenic capacity. The reduction in BAT activity appears to be counteracted by increased beiging of scWAT. When beige fat is disabled by thermoneutrality or aging, Elovl6 KO mice gain weight and have increased scWAT mass and impaired carbohydrate metabolism. Overall, our study suggests fatty acid chain length is important for BAT function.
