The perception of adipose tissue, both in the scientific community and in the general population, has changed dramatically in the past 20 years. While adipose tissue was thought for a long time to be a rather simple lipid storage entity, it is now recognized as a highly heterogeneous organ and a critical regulator of systemic metabolism, composed of many different subtypes of cells, with important endocrine functions. Additionally, adipose tissue is nowadays recognized to contribute to energy turnover, due to the presence of specialized thermogenic adipocytes, which can be found in many adipose depots. This review discusses the unprecedented insights that we have gained into the heterogeneity of thermogenic adipocytes and their respective precursors due to the technical developments in single-cell and nucleus technologies. These methodological advances have increased our understanding of how adipose tissue catabolic function is influenced by developmental and intercellular communication events.

在过去的 20 年中，科学界和普通人群对脂肪组织的看法发生了巨大变化。虽然脂肪组织长期以来被认为是一种相当简单的脂质储存实体，但现在它被认为是一种高度异质的器官和全身代谢的关键调节剂，由许多不同的细胞亚型组成，具有重要的内分泌功能。此外，由于存在专门的产热脂肪细胞，脂肪组织现在被认为有助于能量转换，这可以在许多脂肪库中找到。本综述讨论了由于单细胞和细胞核技术的技术发展，我们对产热脂肪细胞及其各自前体的异质性获得了前所未有的见解。