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Comments on ‘FNIP1 regulates adipocyte browning and systemic glucose homeostasis in mice by shaping intracellular calcium dynamics’
Yujing Yin , Dengqiu Xu , Yan Mao , Zhenji Gan*
State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology and MOE Key Laboratory of Model Animal for Disease Study, Division of Spine Surgery, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, Chemistry and Biomedicine Innovation Center (ChemBIC), Model Animal Research Center, Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210061, China
*Correspondence to:Zhenji Gan , Email:ganzj@nju.edu.cn
J Mol Cell Biol, Volume 14, Issue 5, May 2022, mjac033,  https://doi.org/10.1093/jmcb/mjac033

Owing to its remarkable benefits on metabolic health and its demonstrated presence in adult humans, beige or ‘brite’ adipocytes hold great promise to combat obesity and metabolic diseases. Delineation of the mechanisms involved in adipocyte ‘beiging’ or ‘browning’ is thus of particular interest. Previous studies of the molecular regulatory pathways that drive the beiging of white adipose tissue (WAT) have centered on the cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)-related signaling (Wang and Seale, 2016Cohen and Kajimura, 2021). Acting via the cAMP–protein kinase A pathway, norepinephrine dually stimulates adipocyte lipolysis and the expression of thermogenic genes, such as uncoupling protein 1 (Ucp1) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator-1alpha (Ppargc1a) (Inagaki et al., 2016). While the second messenger calcium (Ca2+) is fundamental to a wide variety of cellular processes including, but not limited to, muscle contraction, gene transcription, exocytosis, and cellular metabolism in virtually all eukaryotic cells (Arruda and Hotamisligil, 2015), whether and how Ca2+ signals orchestrate WAT beiging remains largely unclear, in part because of a limited understanding of the regulatory mechanism that controls intracellular Ca2+ dynamics in adipocytes.