Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34794433›Full record

ReviewBMC biology2021

Adipoclast: a multinucleated fat-eating macrophage.

Antoni Olona, Subhankar Mukhopadhyay, Charlotte Hateley, Fernando O Martinez, Siamon Gordon, Jacques Behmoaras

Open access · goldAbstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in BMC biology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
18citing papers in PubMed
3.2field-weighted citation impact, top 7% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

18 citing papers in PubMed, 29 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Review
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. TREM2 as a regulator of obesity-induced cardiac remodeling: mechanisms and therapeutic insights.American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology · 2025
    Review
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. Review
  10. Article
  11. Nutrients · 2023
    Article
  12. Article
  13. Obesity and the risk of cardiometabolic diseases.Nature reviews. Cardiology · 2023
    Review
  14. Review
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Review
  18. The Multifaceted Roles of Macrophages in NAFLD Pathogenesis.Cellular and molecular gastroenterology and hepatology · 2023
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.

Antoni OlonaDepartment of Infectious Disease, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, London, UK.
Subhankar MukhopadhyayMRC Centre for Transplantation, Peter Gorer Department of Immunobiology, School of Immunology and Microbial Sciences, King's College London, Great Maze Pond, London, SE1 9RT, UK.
Charlotte HateleyCentre for Inflammatory Disease, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, London, UK.
Fernando O MartinezFaculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK.
Siamon GordonGraduate Institute of Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan City, Taiwan.
Jacques BehmoarasCentre for Inflammatory Disease, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, London, UK. jacques.behmoaras@imperial.ac.uk.ORCID 0000-0002-5170-2606
Hammersmith Hospital · GBChang Gung University · TWKing's College London · GBUniversity of Surrey · GB

Funding

Medical Research Council MR/N01121X/1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Cell membrane fusion and multinucleation in macrophages are associated with physiologic homeostasis as well as disease. Osteoclasts are multinucleated macrophages that resorb bone through increased metabolic activity resulting from cell fusion. Fusion of macrophages also generates multinucleated giant cells (MGCs) in white adipose tissue (WAT) of obese individuals. For years, our knowledge of MGCs in WAT has been limited to their description as part of crown-like structures (CLS) surrounding damaged adipocytes. However, recent evidence indicates that these cells can phagocytose oversized lipid remnants, suggesting that, as in osteoclasts, cell fusion and multinucleation are required for specialized catabolic functions. We thus reason that WAT MGCs can be viewed as functionally analogous to osteoclasts and refer to them in this article as adipoclasts. We first review current knowledge on adipoclasts and their described functions. In view of recent advances in single cell genomics, we describe WAT macrophages from a 'fusion perspective' and speculate on the ontogeny of adipoclasts. Specifically, we highlight the role of CD9 and TREM2, two plasma membrane markers of lipid-associated macrophages in WAT, which have been previously described as regulators of fusion and multinucleation in osteoclasts and MGCs. Finally, we consider whether strategies aiming to target WAT macrophages can be more selectively directed against adipoclasts.

Indexed as

Giant CellsMacrophagesCell FusionHumansLipidsMembrane GlycoproteinsOsteoclastsReceptors, ImmunologicLipidsMembrane GlycoproteinsReceptors, ImmunologicTREM2 protein, human

Identifiers

PMID34794433
PMCPMC8603524
OpenAlexW3212548956

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.