Norepinephrine as a morphogen?: its unique interaction with brown adipose tissue

Norepinephrine is normally considered a neurotransmitter mediating acute metabolic effects in target cells. However, analysis of the regulation of the recruitment process in brown adipose tissue has indicated that norepinephrine may interact with this tissue in such a way that it could be considered a morphogen for this tissue. Besides stimulating the acute thermogenic processes, norepinephrine can induce the expression of tissue-specific proteins such as the uncoupling protein, induce expression of non-tissue specific proteins necessary of the thermogenic processes (e.g. lipoprotein lipase) and repress the expression of non-essential proteins (e.g. subunit c of the ATP-synthase). Upon chronic adrenergic stimulation, the general differentiation state of the tissue is advanced, indicating that the expression of factors with a more general effect on brown adipocyte differentiation is also under adrenergic control. It may even be discussed that norepinephrine may be involved early in the embryonal determination process directing cell clones into this line. The molecular basis for these effects of norepinephrine are only poorly known at present, but adrenergic effects on the expression level of many transcription factors, such as C/EBPalpha, C/EBPbeta, and PPARgamma 2, have been noted. These collective recruitment effects of norepinephrine are well suited to allow the tissue to grow or atrophy in response to the physiological needs of the organism.