Chlorogenic acid promotes development of brown adipocyte-like phenotype in 3T3-L1 adipocytes

[Display omitted] •Chlorogenic acid promotes differentiation of 3T3L1 pre-adipocytes into brown-like adipocytes.•Chlorogenic acid induces trans-differentiation of white adipocytes to beige adipocytes.•Chlorogenic acid induced browning of adipocytes is mediated through activation of AMPK. An emerging strategy for reducing obesity is induction of brown fat type phenotype in white adipose tissue. Chlorogenic acid (CGA), a dietary polyphenol, has been reported to modulate lipid and glucose metabolism, and improve glucose tolerance. However, information on its role in adipocyte browning is lacking. The effect of CGA on browning of 3T3-L1 pre-adipocytes and differentiated white adipocytes was investigated. Treatment of 3T3-L1 pre-adipocytes with CGA produced more adipocytes with multilocular phenotype, typical of brown adipocytes. Increase in uncoupler protein-1(UCP1)(1.7-fold) and Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ co-activator-1α (PGC-1α)(2-fold) and decrease in triacyl glycerol content (50%) suggested that CGA promotes browning. Morphological analysis and expression of UCP1 further showed that CGA induced trans-differentiation of 3T3-L1 white adipocytes cells to beige adipocytes. Increased phosphorylation of AMP-dependent kinase (AMPK) in cells treated with CGA and reversal of CGA stimulated browning by dorsomorphin, an inhibitor of AMPK, suggested that AMPK pathway is involved in mediating the effect of CGA.