BAP1 suppresses white adipose tissue browning and thermogenesis through deubiquitinating KDM1B

Obesity is a growing global health threat, and inducing browning of white adipose tissue (WAT) to increase energy expenditure has become an attractive strategy for treating obesity and related metabolic complications. BRCA1-associated protein 1 (BAP1), a ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase (UCH) domain-containing deubiquitinase (DUB) expressed broadly across tissues, has previously been shown to play an important role in liver carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. However, its role in the browning of inguinal white adipose tissue (iWAT) has not been studied. Our study initially found that BAP1 expression was downregulated in cold-induced mouse iWAT but upregulated in obese conditions. Furthermore, overexpression of BAP1 in the inguinal fat tissue suppressed iWAT browning and thermogenesis. Mechanistically, we found that BAP1 interacts with KDM1B and stabilizes it through deubiquitination. Subsequently, KDM1B demethylates H3K4me1/2 modifications in proximity to thermogenesis-related genes, thereby inhibiting the expression of genes essential for browning. In summary, our study shows that BAP1 negatively regulates iWAT browning via a mechanism mediated by KDM1B.