Mitochondrial fission is associated with UCP1 activity in human brite/beige adipocytes

International audienceObjective: Thermogenic adipocytes (i.e. brown or brite/beige adipocytes) are able to burn large amounts of lipids and carbohydrates as a result of highly active mitochondria and enhanced uncoupled respiration, due to UCP1 activity. Although mitochondria are the key organelles for this thermogenic function, limited human data are available.Methods/results: We characterized changes in the mitochondrial function of human brite adipocytes, using hMADS cells as a model of white- to brite-adipocyte conversion. We found that profound molecular modifications were associated with morphological changes in mitochondria. The fission process was partly driven by the DRP1 protein, which also promoted mitochondrial uncoupling.Conclusion: Our data demonstrate that white-to-brite conversion of human adipocytes relies on molecular, morphological and functional changes in mitochondria, which enable brite/beige cells to carry out thermogenesis