Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 Jan:27:193-202.
doi: 10.1016/j.jnutbio.2015.09.006. Epub 2015 Sep 21.

Curcumin induces brown fat-like phenotype in 3T3-L1 and primary white adipocytes

Jameel Lone  1 , Jae Heon Choi  1 , Sang Woo Kim  1 , Jong Won Yun  2
Affiliations

Curcumin induces brown fat-like phenotype in 3T3-L1 and primary white adipocytes

Jameel Lone et al. J Nutr Biochem. 2016 Jan.

Abstract

Recent advances have been made in the understanding of pharmacological and dietary agents that contribute to browning of white adipose tissue in order to combat obesity by promoting energy expenditure. Here, we show that curcumin induces browning of 3T3-L1 and primary white adipocytes via enhanced expression of brown fat-specific genes. Curcumin-induced browning in white adipocytes was investigated by determining expression levels of brown adipocyte-specific genes/proteins by real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, immunoblot analysis and immunocytochemical staining. Curcumin increased mitochondrial biogenesis, as evidenced by transmission electronic microscopic detection and enhanced expression of proteins involved in fat oxidation. Cucurmin also increased protein levels of hormone-sensitive lipase and p-acyl-CoA carboxylase, suggesting its possible role in augmentation of lipolysis and suppression of lipogenesis. Increased expression of UCP1 and other brown adipocyte-specific markers was possibly mediated by curcumin-induced activation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) based on the fact that inhibition of AMPK by dorsomorphin abolished expression of PRDM16, UCP1 and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma co-activator 1-alpha while the activator 5-Aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleotide elevated expression of these brown marker proteins. Our findings suggest that curcumin plays a dual modulatory role in inhibition of adipogenesis as well as induction of the brown fat-like phenotype and thus may have potential therapeutic implications for treatment of obesity.

Keywords: Adipocyte browning; Anti-obesity; Curcumin; Non-shivering thermogenesis; UCP1.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources

-