Sphingomyelin is involved in regulating UCP1-mediated nonshivering thermogenesis.

Adipogenesis is one of the major mechanisms for adipose tissue expansion, during which spindle-shaped mesenchymal stem cells commit to the fate of adipocyte precursors and differentiate into round-shaped fat-laden adipocytes. Here, we investigated the lipidomic profile dynamics of ex vivo-differentiated brown and white adipocytes derived from the stromal vascular fractions of interscapular brown (iBAT) and inguinal white adipose tissues. We showed that sphingomyelin was specifically enriched in terminally differentiated brown adipocytes, but not white adipocytes.