Sesaminol induces brown and beige adipocyte formation through suppression of myogenic program

Adipocytes are key players in maintaining energy homeostasis and are classified into two different categories: white and brown adipocytes. While white adipocytes store energy as triacylglycerols in lipid droplets, brown adipocytes combust excess chemical energy and release in the form of heat through uncoupled respiration. This characteristic phenomenon of brown fat attracts researchers and pharmacological industries to view brown fat as one of the potential therapeutic targets for obesity and associated metabolic disease. In the current study, we investigated the effect of a small molecule, sesaminol (SML) on brown fat activity and found that SML induces the thermogenic program in primary white adipocytes as well as chow diet fed mice. In particular, SML treatment to mice elevated mitochondrial complex proteins and the rate of oxygen consumption in brown and white fat. Administration of SML to high fat diet (HFD) challenged mice decreased weight gain, adiposity and cholesterol levels along with an increase of brown fat gene program in brown and white fat. Mechanistically, SML repressed the myogenic gene program in C2C12 myoblasts and increased all mitochondrial marker genes as appeared in brown adipose cells. Together, our results demonstrate that SML stimulates brown adipose function and protects mice against diet-induced weight gain.