3-iodothyronamine affects thermogenic substrates’ mobilization in brown adipocytes

We investigated the effect of 3-iodothyronamine (T1AM) on thermogenic substrates in brown adipocytes (BAs). BAs isolated from the stromal fraction of rat brown adipose tissue were exposed to an adipogenic medium containing insulin in the absence (M) or in the presence of 20 nM T1AM (M+T1AM) for 6 days. At the end of the treatment, the expression of p-PKA/PKA, p-AKT/AKT, p-AMPK/AMPK, p-CREB/CREB, p-P38/P38, type 1 and 3 beta adrenergic receptors (β1–β3AR), GLUT4, type 2 deiodinase (DIO2), and uncoupling protein 1 (UCP-1) were evaluated. The effects of cell conditioning with T1AM on fatty acid mobilization (basal and adrenergic-mediated), glucose uptake (basal and insulin-mediated), and ATP cell content were also analyzed in both cell populations. When compared to cells not exposed, M+T1AM cells showed increased p-PKA/PKA, p-AKT/AKT, p-CREB/CREB, p-P38/P38, and p-AMPK/AMPK, downregulation of DIO2 and β1AR, and upregulation of glycosylated β3AR, GLUT4, and adiponectin. At basal conditions, glycerol release was higher for M+T1AM cells than M cells, without any significant differences in basal glucose uptake. Notably, in M+T1AM cells, adrenergic agonists failed to activate PKA and lipolysis and to increase ATP level, but the glucose uptake in response to insulin exposure was more pronounced than in M cells. In conclusion, our results suggest that BAs conditioning with T1AM promote a catabolic condition promising to fight obesity and insulin resistance.