The global prevalence of obesity continues to rise with no signs of slowing. Because obesity is a risk factor for numerous diseases, it diminishes both quality of life and life expectancy. Hence, developing effective strategies for obesity prevention and treatment is an urgent priority. Brown and beige adipocytes dissipate energy as heat via nonshivering thermogenesis, making them promising targets for treating metabolic disorders such as obesity. Since the 2009 discovery of metabolically active brown adipose tissue in adult humans, significant progress has been made in elucidating the developmental origins and physiological roles of brown and beige adipocytes. However, many aspects of their intrinsic biology remain poorly understood. In vitro analyses are indispensable for overcoming the limitations of in vivo studies, but isolating human brown adipocytes for culture is ethically and technically challenging. Therefore, just as in vitro models of white adipocytes have been invaluable for understanding adipose biology, establishing reliable in vitro systems for brown and beige adipocytes is crucial. This review summarizes current methodologies for generating brown and beige adipocytes in vitro—including cellular reprogramming approaches—a technological advance poised to accelerate future research on these thermogenic adipocytes.
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