Sign up for Table of Contents Alerts.
Cell Cycle is published 24 times a year.
Email this page
Print this page
Review
Novel Function of the Retinoblastoma Protein in Fat: Regulation of White Versus Brown Adipocyte Differentiation
Jacob B. Hansen, Hein te Riele and Karsten Kristiansen
volume 3 | issue 6
june 2004Pages: 774 - 778
We now provide open access to journal articles published online for one year or more. This article may be downloaded at the following link:
Download PDF If the document does not open, please right-click on the link (control-click on a Macintosh) and select the option to save the file to disk.
The differentiation of white and brown fat cells is controlled by a similar set of transcription factors, including PPAR? and C/EBP?. However, despite many similarities between the two types of fat cells, they carry out essentially opposite functions in vivo, with white adipocytes being the major energy store and brown adipocytes being potent energy-dissipaters through thermogenesis. Yet, little is known about factors differentially regulating the formation of white and brown fat cells. Members of the retinoblastoma protein family (pRB, p107, p130) have been implicated in the regulation of adipocyte differentiation, and expression and phosphorylation of the three retinoblastoma family proteins oscillate in a characteristic manner during differentiation of the white preadipocyte cell line 3T3-L1. We have recently demonstrated a surprising function of the retinoblastoma protein in the regulation of white versus brown adipocyte differentiation in vitro and possibly in vivo. Here we summarize the current knowledge on the retinoblastoma protein in fat cells, with particular emphasis on its potential role in adipocyte lineage commitment and differentiation.
We now provide open access to journal articles published online for one year or more. This article may be downloaded at the following link:
Download PDF If the document does not open, please right-click on the link (control-click on a Macintosh) and select the option to save the file to disk.