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Microcalorimetry of isolated mammalian cells

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Abstract

USING microcalorimetry1,2, we have measured the heat evolved by isolated cells of brown adipose tissue (BAT). This tissue generates heat in newborn and cold-adapted mammals and in hibernators during arousal from hibernation and during cold stress3–5. The method can be applied generally in work with, for example, mitochondria and isolated cells and has, especially in studies of thermogenesis, the advantage of measuring the gross calorific output of all processes in the cell. Our results, compared with others obtained by routine methods, show that it is an oversimplification to consider BAT as the major source of heat during arousal.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wenner-Gren Institute, University of Stockholm, Norrtullsgatan 16, S-113 45, Stockholm, Sweden

    JAN NEDERGAARD, BARBARA CANNON & OLOV LINDBERG

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  1. JAN NEDERGAARD
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  2. BARBARA CANNON
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  3. OLOV LINDBERG
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NEDERGAARD, J., CANNON, B. & LINDBERG, O. Microcalorimetry of isolated mammalian cells. Nature 267, 518–520 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1038/267518a0

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