Related topics: type 2 diabetes , insulin resistance , fat , cell metabolism , obesity



Adipose tissue

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In histology, adipose tissue or body fat or just fat is loose connective tissue composed of adipocytes. Adipose tissue is derived from lipoblasts. Its main role is to store energy in the form of fat, although it also cushions and insulates the body. Obesity or being overweight in humans and most animals does not depend on body weight but on the amount of body fat—specifically, adipose tissue. Two types of adipose tissue exist: white adipose tissue (WAT) and brown adipose tissue (BAT). Adipose tissue also serves as an important endocrine organ by producing hormones such as leptin, resistin and the cytokine TNFα. The formation of adipose tissue appears to be controlled by the adipose gene. Adipose tissue was first identified by the Swiss naturalist Conrad Gessner in 1551.\

For more information about Adipose tissue, read the full article at Wikipedia.
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News tagged with fat cells

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Higher levels of protein hormone associated with lower risk of dementia, Alzheimer's disease

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Dec 15, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Persons with higher levels of leptin, a protein hormone produced by fat cells and involved in the regulation of appetite, may have an associated reduced incidence of Alzheimer disease and dementia, according to a study in ...


Researchers identify new stem cell

Medicine & Health / Research

created Dec 07, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have discovered a new type of stem cell in the skin that acts surprisingly like certain stem cells found in embryos: both can generate fat, bone, cartilage, and even nerve cells. These newly-described ...


Brown fat cells make 'spare tires' shrink

Medicine & Health / Research

created Dec 01, 2009 | popularity 3.9 / 5 (7) | comments 5

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at the University of Bonn have found a new signalling pathway which stimulates the production and function of so-called brown fat cells. They propose using these cells that serve as a "natural ...


New genetic mechanism that controls body's fat-building process found

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Aug 26, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 1

At a time of alarming increases in obesity and associated diseases -- and fiery debates about the cost of health care -- a UCF research team has identified a new genetic mechanism that controls the body's fat-building process.


Systems biology approach provides insulin resistance insights

Systems biology approach provides insulin resistance insights

Medicine & Health / Research

created Nov 23, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Researchers from the University of California, San Diego recently offered the sharpest-yet picture of how core biochemical pathways in skeletal muscle cells and fat cells are altered in people who suffer from ...


Disabling enzyme allows mice to gorge without becoming obese, new study finds

Medicine & Health / Research

created Jan 11, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (13) | comments 1

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have identified a new enzyme that plays a far more important role than expected in controlling the breakdown of fat. In a new study to be published Jan. 11 in the journal ...


How calorie-restricted diets fight obesity and extend life span

How calorie-restricted diets fight obesity and extend life span

Medicine & Health / Research

created Dec 09, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Scientists searching for the secrets of how calorie-restricted diets increase longevity are reporting discovery of proteins in the fat cells of human volunteers that change as pounds drop off. The proteins ...


Researchers find possible use for the vine that ate the South

Chemistry / Other

created Sep 03, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0

Kudzu, the fast-growing vine that has gobbled up some 10 million acres in the Southeast, may prove to be a valuable dietary supplement for metabolic syndrome, a condition that affects 50 million Americans, say researchers ...


Scientists create energy-burning brown fat in mice

Scientists create energy-burning brown fat in mice

Medicine & Health / Research

created Jul 29, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (5) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have shown that they can engineer mouse and human cells to produce brown fat, a natural energy-burning type of fat that counteracts obesity. If ...


Link between obesity and diabetes discovered

Medicine & Health / Research

created Jul 08, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 1

A Monash University study has proven a critical link between obesity and the onset of Type 2 diabetes, a discovery which could lead to the design of a drug to prevent the disease.


Researchers discover new glucose-regulating protein linked with diabetes

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created May 28, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, and collaborators at Harvard Medical School have linked a specialized protein in human muscles to the process that clears glucose out of the bloodstream, shedding ...


High urea levels in chronic kidney failure might be toxic after all

Medicine & Health / Research

created Dec 02, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

It is thought that the elevated levels of urea (the byproduct of protein breakdown that is excreted in the urine) in patients with end-stage kidney failure are not particularly toxic.


Researchers discover pathway with implications for obesity

Researchers discover pathway with implications for obesity

Medicine & Health / Research

created Jun 03, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Cornell scientists have discovered how two related proteins and their roles in a key molecular pathway are critical to creating obesity-causing fat cells.


Drugs that act on 'fasting signal' may curb insulin resistance in obese

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Mar 03, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

A report in the March issue of Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication, has found that a signal known to play a role during fasting also switches on early in the fat tissue of obese mice as they progress toward type 2 diab ...


Fat-free diet reduces liver fat in fat-free mice

Biology /

created Feb 03, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have uncovered crucial clues about a paradoxical disease in which patients with no body fat develop many of the health complications usually found in obese people.