Volume 36, No 4, Apr 2026

ISSN: 1001-0602 
EISSN: 1748-7838 2018 
impact factor 17.848* 
(Clarivate Analytics, 2019)

Volume 36 Issue 4, April 2026: 245-246

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

Branched-chain fatty acids fire up the peroxisome

Martina Wallace¹ , Ramya S. Kuna² , Christian M. Metallo^2,*

¹School of Agriculture and Food Science, Conway Institute, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
²Molecular and Cell Biology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
Correspondence: Christian M. Metallo(metallo@salk.edu)

In their recent Nature publication, Liu et al. demonstrate an important role for the synthesis and catabolism of long-chain monomethyl branched-chain fatty acids (mmBCFAs) in supporting thermogenesis in mouse brown adipose tissue. Through the elegant use of genetic mouse models, metabolic tracing, and genetically-encoded temperature sensors, they describe a thermogenic pathway involving fatty acid synthase-mediated mmBCFA synthesis and catabolism within peroxisomes by acyl-CoA oxidase 2.

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41422-025-01197-2

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