Adipose tissue, once considered inert connective tissue, is an essential storage site for key substrates used as sources of energy. In recent years, cellular and molecular biologists have advanced the concept that adipocytes are not solely a cellular storage location for excess fuel. Rather, adipose tissue is an active secretory organ that synthesizes and releases a number of bioactive proteins that influence energy and substrate metabolism throughout the body via endocrine, paracrine, and/or autocrine actions.
Despite adipose tissue's important role in providing fuel for exercise and its...