Abstract: AIM To investigate the role of growth differentiation factor 11 (GDF11) in transformation of white adipocytes to brown adipocytes. METHODS Mature white adipocytes were obtained from differentiated C3H10T1/2 and were randomly divided into normal control group and GDF11 group. The expression of UCP1 in mature white adipocytes incubated with GDF11 was detected by Western blot and the expression of brown adipose gene was measured by real-time PCR. RESULTS GDF11 was added at 25, 50, and 100 ng/ml, respectively. Compared with control group, expression of UCP1 increased significantly at 100 ng/ml in GDF11 group (P<0.05), whereas there was no significant difference at 25 ng/ml and 50 ng/ml. GDF11 promoted the expression of brown adipose markers ucp1, cidea, cox7α, dio2 and elovl3 at 100 ng/ml (P<0.05). CONCLUSION GDF11 significantly promotes the transformation of white adipocytes into brown adipocytes.