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Genetic Mouse Models: The Powerful Tools to Study Fat Tissues

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Thermogenic Fat

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1566))

Abstract

Obesity and Type 2 diabetes (T2D) are associated with a variety of comorbidities that contribute to mortality around the world. Although significant effort has been expended in understanding mechanisms that mitigate the consequences of this epidemic, the field has experienced limited success thus far. The potential ability of brown adipose tissue (BAT) to counteract obesity and metabolic disease in rodents (and potentially in humans) has been a topical realization. Recently, there is also another thermogenic fat cell called beige adipocytes, which are located among white adipocytes and share similar activated responses to cyclic AMP as classical BAT. In this chapter, we review contemporary molecular strategies to investigate the role of adipose tissue depots in metabolism. In particular, we will discuss the generation of adipose tissue-specific knockout and overexpression of target genes in various mouse models. We will also discuss how to use different Cre (cyclization recombination) mouse lines to investigate diverse types of adipocytes.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Endocrinology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA

    Xingxing Kong

  2. Division of Hypothalamic Research, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd., MC9077, Dallas, TX, 75390, USA

    Kevin W. Williams & Tiemin Liu

Authors
  1. Xingxing Kong
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  2. Kevin W. Williams
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  3. Tiemin Liu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tiemin Liu .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, Life Sciences Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

    Jun Wu

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Kong, X., Williams, K.W., Liu, T. (2017). Genetic Mouse Models: The Powerful Tools to Study Fat Tissues. In: Wu, J. (eds) Thermogenic Fat. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1566. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-6820-6_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-6820-6_10

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-6819-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-6820-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

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