A Multiomics Atlas of Brown Adipose Tissue Development Over Time

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) regulates homeostatic energy balances in response to physiological changes such as nutrition intake, calorie restriction, exercise, and environmental temperature by consuming energy to generate heat, and thus serves as an important organ for obesity and metabolic diseases. We performed an integrated transcriptomic and metabolomic characterization of developing mouse BAT from embryo to adult to obtain a time-resolved picture of BAT development. We demonstrated that there are 2 distinct developmental changes that are BAT specific. We also examined transcription factor binding sites and discovered key transcription factors in the developmental time course. A comparison of our data with other organ development transcriptome and metabolome data revealed BAT-specific transcriptome and metabolome patterns. Our findings provide an overview of mouse BAT development as well as implications for developmental and functional BAT controls.

Automated summary

The study focused on understanding the development of brown adipose tissue (BAT) and its role in regulating energy balance and metabolic diseases. Through transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis of developing mouse BAT, two distinct developmental changes specific to BAT were identified. Key transcription factors involved in BAT development were also discovered. The comparison with other organ development data revealed BAT-specific transcriptome and metabolome patterns. These findings provide an overview of mouse BAT development and have implications for understanding developmental and functional controls of BAT.