Glycogen is linked to heat generation in fat cells, finds study

Nov 02, 2021

New Delhi, Nov 02 (ANI): Researchers in a recent study describe how energy expenditure and heat production are regulated in obesity through a previously unknown cellular pathway. The new study was published in the journal Nature. Humans carry around with them, often abundantly so, at least two kinds of fat tissue: white and brown. White fat cells are essentially inert containers for energy stored in the form of a single large, oily droplet. Brown fat cells are more complex, containing multiple, smaller droplets intermixed with dark-coloured mitochondria -- cellular organelles that give them their colour and are the 'engines' that convert the lipid droplets into heat and energy. Some people also have "beige" fat cells, brown-like cells residing within white fat that can be activated to burn energy.