Browning of white adipocytes by gold nanocluster mediated electromagnetic induction heating hyperthermia

Browning of white adipose tissue (WAT) is becoming an attractive therapeutic target for obesity. Great efforts have been made to develop effective approaches to induce browning. Unfortunately, the current methods suffer from a series of disadvantages, such as low efficiency, unsatisfactory stability, and side effects. Herein, we report a new approach to induce browning of 3T3-L1 white adipocytes based on electromagnetic induction heating (EIH) hyperthermia. In particular, adipocyte-targeting aptamer modified gold nanoclusters (Apt-AuNCs) were employed as the mediators of EIH. Apt-AuNCs had good biocompatibility and excellent targeting performance with white adipocytes. After Apt-AuNCs/EIH treatment, adipocytes with characteristic multilocular and small lipid droplets increased, and the content of triglycerides reduced effectively. Apt-AuNCs/EIH treatment also significantly increased the mitochondrial activity in adipocytes. Meanwhile, the mRNA levels of key genes that are involved in browning, for example UCP1, PRDM16, PPARγ, and PGC-1α, were upregulated. Finally, the induction mechanism of Apt-AuNCs/EIH on browning of white adipocytes was explained by the synergistic effects of EIH hyperthermia and pharmacological action of AuNCs. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt on induction of browning by metal nanocluster-mediated EIH hyperthermia, thus providing an interesting and efficient channel for obesity treatment.