ArticleCell2024
BCAA-nitrogen flux in brown fat controls metabolic health independent of thermogenesis.
Article in Cell, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 63 papers.
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.
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
63 citing papers in PubMed, 82 citations in OpenAlex.
- An RNA thermogenic therapy to preserve lean mass and enhance metabolic health during GLP-1 weight loss.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Human brown fat metabolism associates with systemic branched-chain amino acids homeostasis.Molecular metabolism · 2026Article
- CG14075/Mmt promotes amino acid catabolism and cooperates with AKH during starvation in Drosophila.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Brown fat protects against hepatic oxidative stress by remodeling the circulating metabolome.Cell metabolism · 2026Article
- BCAT2 links branched-chain amino acids metabolism to interferon signaling to sustain macrophage inflammation.Nature immunology · 2026Article
- Perirenal fat β₃-adrenergic signaling alleviates renal fibrosis via regulating Bcat2/BCAA-TNFα pathway in diabetic kidney disease.Nature communications · 2026Article
- E4BP4 safeguards brown fat mitochondria from obesity-induced fragmentation via ceramide repression.EMBO reports · 2026Article
- Review
- Mitochondrial control of amino acid catabolism by a fasting-inducible mitochondrial carrier.Science advances · 2026Article
- Identification and validation of brown adipocyte-related key genes in ST-segment elevated myocardial infarction.Journal of cardiothoracic surgery · 2026Article
- Decoding the Gut-Fat-Heart Axis: From Molecular Communication Networks to Clinical Translation Strategies.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- The skeletal muscle slow myosin heavy chain regulates mammalian metabolic homeostasis through the NRF2 pathway.Science advances · 2026Article
- Article
- Gdf15 expression in thermogenic adipocytes regulates diet-induced weight gain in a sex-dependent manner.Molecular medicine (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2026Article
- Inter-organ metabolic feedback via BCAA catabolism regulates glucagon-like hormone secretion in Drosophila.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Article
- Temperature as a Metabolic Signal Linking Neural and Endocrine Circuits to Energy Homeostasis.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Functional and metabolomic analyses of brown adipose tissue during cold-deacclimation reveal rapid N-acetylated amino acid adaptations.iScience · 2026Article
- Mitochondrial control of glycerolipid synthesis by a PEP shuttle.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Adipose Tissue Engineering Biomaterials: Smart Scaffolds, Vascularization, and Clinical Frontiers.Biomolecules · 2026Review
3 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
23 authors at 7 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is best known for thermogenesis. Rodent studies demonstrated that enhanced BAT thermogenesis is tightly associated with increased energy expenditure, reduced body weight, and improved glucose homeostasis. However, human BAT is protective against type 2 diabetes, independent of body weight. The mechanism underlying this dissociation remains unclear. Here, we report that impaired mitochondrial catabolism of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) in BAT, by deleting mitochondrial BCAA carriers (MBCs), caused systemic insulin resistance without affecting energy expenditure and body weight. Brown adipocytes catabolized BCAA in the mitochondria as nitrogen donors for the biosynthesis of non-essential amino acids and glutathione. Impaired mitochondrial BCAA-nitrogen flux in BAT resulted in increased oxidative stress, decreased hepatic insulin signaling, and decreased circulating BCAA-derived metabolites. A high-fat diet attenuated BCAA-nitrogen flux and metabolite synthesis in BAT, whereas cold-activated BAT enhanced the synthesis. This work uncovers a metabolite-mediated pathway through which BAT controls metabolic health beyond thermogenesis.
Indexed as
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.