Myoglobin (MB) is highly expressed in brown adipose tissue (BAT), and expression increases during brown adipocyte differentiation and furthermore with BAT activation in vivo. We have revealed that expression levels of MB in brown and white adipocytes control mitochondrial respiratory capacity and increase the acute response to adrenergic signaling and lipolysis, demonstrating myoglobins interaction with lipids as the mode of action underlying increased respiration. 

Together with our collaborators at the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research (UFZ), at the Institute of Bioanalytical Chemistry (UL), we investigate the structural basis of the MB-lipid interaction and establish MB impact on energy expenditure in conditional MB knockout mice.