Brown Adipose Tissue Growth and Development

Table 1

Summary of the main developmental changes in adipose tissue during early life.

Stage of development	Proliferative phase	Preparatory phase	Thermogenic phase	Lipogenic phase
Primary adipose tissue characteristics	Preadipocyte	Brown adipose tissue	Brown adipose tissue	White adipose tissue
Function	Cellular multiplication necessary to form adipose tissue depot	Acquisition of large amounts of uncoupling protein 1	Rapid activation of uncoupling protein 1 in order to prevent hypothermia	Lipid deposition and storage
Most abundant gene	Antigen identified by monoclonal antibody ki-67	Long form of prolactin receptor	Uncoupling protein 1	Leptin