Research team develops new technology for studying brown fat

Brown fat, also known as brown adipose tissue (BAT), is a special type of fat that helps maintain body temperature. Importantly, brown fat is a biological fuel linked to metabolic rate and fat storage. In a recent publication, Dr. Zhiqiang Lin, Assistant Professor at the Masonic Medical Research Institute (MMRI) and senior author of the manuscript, successfully developed a new way to enrich isolation of brown fat cells for use in his biochemistry studies. “When faced with a scientific setback, we simply start tackling potential hurdles,” said Dr. Lin. One of these was having a need to develop a better way to isolate these fat cells.

BAT is comprised of multiple cell types, which makes it difficult to isolate brown fat cells specifically without contamination by other cell populations in the tissue. Prior to Dr. Lin’s research, there was no efficient method to do this. “This technique will allow my lab, and the labs of other investigators, to more clearly study the relationship between brown fat cells and other cell types in BAT” said Dr. Lin.

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