Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 7, 2026

Chromatin Immunoprecipitation of Murine Brown Adipose Tissue
Published on: November 21, 2018
NT-PGC-1α deficiency decreases mitochondrial FA oxidation in brown adipose tissue and alters substrate utilization in
Jihyun Kim1, Min Sung Park1, Kyoungsoo Ha1
1Laboratory of Gene Regulation and Metabolism, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, LA.
Abstract:
Transcriptional coactivator PPAR γ coactivator (PGC)-1α and its splice variant N-terminal (NT)-PGC-1α mediate transcriptional regulation of brown adipose tissue (BAT) thermogenesis in response to changes in ambient temperature. PGC-1α is dispensable for cold-induced BAT thermogenesis as long as NT-PGC-1α is present. However, the functional significance of NT-PGC-1α in BAT has not been determined. In the present study, we generated NT-PGC-1α-/- mice to investigate the effect of NT-PGC-1α deficiency on adaptive BAT thermogenesis. At thermoneutrality, NT-PGC-1α-/- mice exhibited abnormal BAT phenotype with increased accumulation of large lipid droplets concomitant with marked downregulation of FA oxidation (FAO)-related genes. Consistent with transcriptional changes, mitochondrial FAO was significantly diminished in NT-PGC-1α-/- BAT. This alteration, in turn, enhanced glucose utilization within the NT-PGC-1α-/- BAT mitochondria. In line with this, NT-PGC-1α-/- mice had higher reliance on carbohydrates. In response to cold or β3-adrenergic receptor agonist, NT-PGC-1α-/- mice transiently exhibited lower thermogenesis but reached similar thermogenic capacities as their WT littermates. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that NT-PGC-1α is an important contributor to the maintenance of FAO capacity in BAT at thermoneutrality and provide deeper insights into the relative contributions of PGC-1α and NT-PGC-1α to temperature-regulated BAT remodeling.
Related Concept Videos
Decreasing Function
Oxidation Numbers
Decreased Body Temperature
Decreased pulse rate
There are specific risk factors that can elevate the likelihood of developing bradycardia. Advanced age is a significant factor, with...
Animal Mitochondrial Genetics
Oxidation-Reduction Reactions

