Cold temperatures can transform white adipocytes (fat cells) into brown-like or beige adipocytes that contribute to health by metabolizing blood sugar and fat molecules to create heat. 

Fajun Yang, Ph.D., and colleagues have found that Cyclin C (CCNC)—a key component of the Mediator complex, a multi-protein cofactor in gene transcription—plays a crucial role in regulating this remodeling, or “browning” of white adipocytes and that CCNC deletion in adipocytes or liver cells of mice resulted in a “metabolically healthy obesity”-like phenotype. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases has now awarded Dr. Yang a five-year, $2.8 million grant to study the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms by which CCNC deficiency affects the remodeling of white adipocytes into beige adipocytes. By improving the understanding of this process, findings from this research could lead to new approaches for treating obesity and other human metabolic disorders. 

Dr. Yang is professor of medicine and of developmental & molecular biology at Einstein. (1R01DK139610-01A1)