[Adipose tissue: new aspects]

During the last past years, obesity had become a major public health problem, and new aspects of fat cells biology have been unraveled. First, since the discovery of leptin, the adipocytes has been recognized as true endocrine cells secreting a variety of factors in a regulated manner. The role of these factors on the development of obesity-associated metabolic complications is becoming increasingly clear. Also, the process of fat cell differentiation has been uncovered, leading to the possibility of efficient targeting protein expression in adipose tissue. Finally, lines of transgenic mice have been created, some of which are totally resistant to obesity. These models led to the identification of new potential adipose targets for the treatment of obesity.