Transgenic animal models for the study of adipose tissue biology

The traditional view of adipose tissue as a passive energy reservoir has changed. Adipose tissue is a complex, highly active metabolic and endocrine organ. With obesity as an increasingly important public health threat, a major development in the understanding of adipose tissue biology has come with observations in different biological spheres including whole-body physiology and application of transgenic animal models. Scientific progress has been made with the identification of several genes in spontaneous monogenic animal models of obesity, and in understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying phenotypes of altered body weight, adiposity and fat distribution by creating transgenic and knockout animal models. Mouse phenotypes resulting from inactivation or overexpression of molecules responsible for the regulation of adipose tissue metabolism have led to novel concepts in the understanding of adipocyte biology and development of obesity. This review presents an overview of transgenic animal models for the study of adipose tissue biology.