ArticleJCI insight2024
Neuregulin 4 mediates the metabolic benefits of mild cold exposure by promoting beige fat thermogenesis.
Article in JCI insight, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 9 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Adipose tissue as a humoral-neuronal hub in metabolic regulation.Nature reviews. Endocrinology · 2026Review
- The Adipose-Sympathetic Nerve Crosstalk: FSTL1 as an Adipocyte-Derived Neurotrophic Factor for WAT Browning.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Alternative Receptor Signaling for the Selective and Multifaceted Regulation of Human Brown Adipocytes.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Follistatin Mitigates Atherosclerosis Through Activation of Arginine Metabolism and Adipose Browning.Cells · 2026Article
- Mechanistic study of FA-PG3 nanoparticles promoting adipose browning through the PPARγ and PRDM16-UCP1 pathway in severe pediatric obesity.NPJ science of food · 2026Article
- WAT-to-BAT communication facilitates the sustained activation of BAT thermogenesis during cold exposure.Cell discovery · 2026Article
- NRG4 suppresses breast cancer metastasis via ERBB4-YAP1-mediated down-regulation of MMPs.Genes & diseases · 2026Article
- From endocrine to immune: therapeutic potential of brown adipose tissue in remodelling the cardiovascular immune microenvironment.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Neuregulin 4 in Insulin Resistance: Mechanisms, Controversies, and Therapeutic Perspectives.Diabetes, metabolic syndrome and obesity : targets and therapy · 2026Review
- Hormones, heat, and health: a comprehensive review of sex-based differences in brown and beige fat biology.Biology of sex differences · 2025Review
- Article
- Secreted proteins in treating metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease: from bench towards bedside.Protein & cell · 2025Review
- The Impact of Neuregulin 4 on Metabolic Dysregulation in Lipodystrophy.Endocrinology · 2025Article
- Brown and beige adipose tissue-derived metabokine and lipokine inter-organ signalling in health and disease.Experimental physiology · 2025Review
- Neuregulin 4 attenuates pancreatic β-cell apoptosis induced by lipotoxicity via activating mTOR-mediated autophagy.Islets · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Interorgan crosstalk via secreted hormones and metabolites is a fundamental aspect of mammalian metabolic physiology. Beyond the highly specialized endocrine cells, peripheral tissues are emerging as an important source of metabolic hormones that influence energy and nutrient metabolism and contribute to disease pathogenesis. Neuregulin 4 (Nrg4) is a fat-derived hormone that protects mice from nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and NASH-associated liver cancer by shaping hepatic lipid metabolism and the liver immune microenvironment. Despite its enriched expression in brown fat, whether NRG4 plays a role in thermogenic response and mediates the metabolic benefits of cold exposure are areas that remain unexplored. Here we show that Nrg4 expression in inguinal white adipose tissue (iWAT) is highly responsive to chronic cold exposure. Nrg4 deficiency impairs beige fat induction and renders mice more susceptible to diet-induced metabolic disorders under mild cold conditions. Using mice with adipocyte and hepatocyte-specific Nrg4 deletion, we reveal that adipose tissue-derived NRG4, but not hepatic NRG4, is essential for beige fat induction following cold acclimation. Furthermore, treatment with recombinant NRG4-Fc fusion protein promotes beige fat induction in iWAT and improves metabolic health in mice with diet-induced obesity. These findings highlight a critical role of NRG4 in mediating beige fat induction and preserving metabolic health under mild cold conditions.
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Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.