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Integrating Extracellular Flux Measurements and Genome-Scale Modeling Reveals Differences between Brown and White Adipocytes
Author(s) -
Alfred K. Ramirez,
Matthew D. Lynes,
Farnaz Shamsi,
Ruidan Xue,
YuHua Tseng,
C. Ronald Kahn,
Simon Kasif,
Jonathan M. Dreyfuss
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
cell reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.264
H-Index - 154
eISSN - 2639-1856
pISSN - 2211-1247
DOI - 10.1016/j.celrep.2017.11.065
Subject(s) - white (mutation) , flux (metallurgy) , extracellular , genome , scale (ratio) , biology , computational biology , genetics , gene , geography , chemistry , cartography , organic chemistry
White adipocytes are specialized for energy storage, whereas brown adipocytes are specialized for energy expenditure. Explicating this difference can help identify therapeutic targets for obesity. A common tool to assess metabolic differences between such cells is the Seahorse Extracellular Flux (XF) Analyzer, which measures oxygen consumption and media acidification in the presence of different substrates and perturbagens. Here, we integrate the Analyzer's metabolic profile from human white and brown adipocytes with a genome-scale metabolic model to predict flux differences across the metabolic map. Predictions matched experimental data for the metabolite 4-aminobutyrate, the protein ABAT, and the fluxes for glucose, glutamine, and palmitate. We also uncovered a difference in how adipocytes dispose of nitrogenous waste, with brown adipocytes secreting less ammonia and more urea than white adipocytes. Thus, the method and software we developed allow for broader metabolic phenotyping and provide a distinct approach to uncovering metabolic differences.

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