Transcriptional regulation of brown and beige adipocyte differentiation by EBF2

EBF2 (Early B-cell factor 2) is a transcription factor that marks committed brown and beige preadipocytes. EBF2 cooperates with PPARG, a master regulator of adipogenesis, to activate the brown/beige adipocyte thermogenic program (inferred from mouse homologs in Rajakumari et al. 2013). In white adipocytes, the activity of EBF2 is negatively regulated by binding of the transcription factor ZNF423, a key transcription factor for white adipocyte differentiation. In brown/beige fate-committed cells, the interaction between ZNF423 and EBF2 is impeded by BMP7, which acts as a positive regulator of brown/beige adipogenesis (inferred from mouse homologs in Shao et al. 2016; Shao et al. 2021). Direct transcriptional targets of EBF2 include PRDM16, UCP1, and PPARA genes. Other marker genes of brown/beige adipocytes, such as CIDEA, PPARGC1A, COX7A, and DIO2 are positively regulated by EBF2 and probably also direct targets of EBF2 (inferred from mouse homologs in Rajakumari et al. 2013; Wang et al. 2014; Stine et al. 2016; Shapira et al. 2017; Lai et al. 2017; Angueira et al. 2020). Based on mouse studies, EBF1 may function partially redundantly with EBF2 in regulation of thermogenesis genes. Transcriptional activity of EBF2 is positively regulated by binding of the long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) Blnc1 (inferred from mouse homologs in Zhao et al. 2014; Mi et al. 2017). Based on mouse studies, EBF2 was reported to recruit the BAF chromatin remodeling complex to activate the transcription of target genes. In addition to PPARG, based on mouse studies, EBF2 was reported to cooperate with other transcription factors such as SIX1 during brown/beige adipogenesis. Besides ZNF423, based on mouse studies, other transcription factors, such as ID1 and TLE3, have been reported to act as inhibitors of EBF2-mediated transcription. The transcription factor GATA6 was reported to directly stimulate EBF2 transcription during mouse beige/brown thermogenesis. Besides BPM7, BPM9-mediated upregulation of FGFR3, and FGF11 have been reported as indirect activators of EBF2 transcriptional activity in mouse and goat, respectively. ZAG (Zinc-alpha2-glycoprotein), a tumor secretory factor, has been reported to stimulate EBF2 expression, which contributes to white adipose tissue browning and energy wasting in cancer-related cachexia. In the single cell atlas of human white adipose tissue it was reported that the EBF2-positive hAd6 white adipocyte subpopulation with UCP1 expression, consistent with the beige profile, shows an association with increased BMI and visceral adiposity. For review, please refer to Wang and Seale 2016.

Summary from Reactome (R-HSA-9844594), read 2026-09-23.