GPCR signaling in brown/beige adipose tissue (Symposium: Adipose Tissue and the Cardiovascular System: Interactions with Sleep and Cardiometabolic Risk Factors)

Overweight and obesity are associated with a high risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes and certain tumors. Sleep disorders have been linked to obesity in multiple way: on one hand obesity increases the risk for obstructive sleep apnea on the other hand sleep disorders are associated with obesity. Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is a special type of fat that dissipates energy to produce heat. In human adults, BAT activity inversely correlates with body‐mass index and is therefore considered as a possible target for treatment of overweight and obesity. Moreover, brown‐fat like cells have been described in white fat depots; these cells are also knonw as brite (brown‐in‐white) or beige cells and their number and activity can be induced by cold exposure and pharmacological stimulation in a process described as ‘browning’. G protein‐coupled receptors (GPCRs) regulate a variety of cellular functions. Importantly, Gs‐coupled GPCRs activate BAT energy expenditure. Our aim is to identify the GPCRs involved in BAT activation and/or recruitment. To this end, we profiled the GPCR expression profile in preadipocytes and mature brown adipocytes. Unexpectedly, we found that a major part of GPCRs in brown adipocytes. Using a variety of pharmacological and genetic tools, we found that Gq‐coupled receptors inhibit brown and beige adipocyte differentiation. Further studies revealed that that Gq signaling is linked to RhoA/ROCK signaling in these cells. Taken together, Gq signaling is an important regulator of brown adipocyte differentiation. Support or Funding Information Funding: DFG