Brown Adipose Tissue Thermogenic Capacity Is Regulated by Elovl6

• Published in: Cell reports (Cambridge) 2015-12, Vol.13 (10), p.2039-2047
• Main Authors: Tan, Chong Yew, Virtue, Samuel, Bidault, Guillaume, Dale, Martin, Hagen, Rachel, Griffin, Julian L., Vidal-Puig, Antonio
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acetyltransferases - metabolism; adaptive thermogenesis; Adipose Tissue, Brown - metabolism; Animals; Blotting, Western; brown adipose tissue; elongase; Elovl6; energy expenditure; fatty acid acyl chain length; Fatty Acid Elongases; Fatty Acids - metabolism; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Knockout; Mitochondrial Proteins - metabolism; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; Thermogenesis - physiology
• ISSN: 2211-1247; 2211-1247
• DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2015.11.004

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. [Display omitted] •The fatty acid elongase Elovl6 is a thermogenically regulated gene in BAT•Elovl6 is necessary for full thermogenic recruitment of brown adipose tissue•Elovl6 acts by regulating mitochondrial function in brown adipose tissue Tan et al. find that the elongation of non-essential C16 fatty acids to C18 species regulates mitochondrial function and is necessary for full recruitment of heat-generating brown adipose tissue.