In this new paper, we report that CD137, a cell surface protein used in several studies as a marker for beige adipocytes, is undetectable at the protein level in beige adipocytes in vivo or in vitro, and its expression is not upregulated by adrenergic stimulation or cold exposure, as expected for a beige cell marker. Moreover, CD137 knock-out mice showed elevated levels of thermogenic markers, including UCP1, increased numbers of beige adipocyte precursors, and expanded UCP1-expressing cell clusters in inguinal WAT after chronic cold exposure. CD137 knock-out mice also showed enhanced cold resistance. These results indicate that CD137 functions as a negative regulator of “browning” in white adipose tissue, and call into question the use of this protein as a functional marker for beige adipocytes.
The paper has just been published in The Journal of Biological Chemistry.
Starting in January 2020, new twin laboratories dedicated to studies of growth factor receptor signaling and physiology will be established at the McGovern Institute of the School of Life Sciences in Peking University, and the Chinese Institute for Brain Research in Beijing, China. The research activities of the PKU and CIBR labs will run in parallel to and complement with those ongoing at the KI and NUS laboratories. The initial focus of the new labs will be on studies of death receptor signaling in neurodegeneation, metabolic regulation by activin receptors ALK4 and ALK7, and control of brain microvasculature integrity and function by neurotrophin signaling. PhD students, postdoctoral fellows and lab technicians are being recruited for the new Beijing laboratories. Follow developments in the PKU and CIBR labs at HERE.
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