Rapid changes in number of GDP binding sites on brown adipose tissue mitochondria

1986 ◽  
Vol 251 (2) ◽  
pp. E192-E195
Author(s):  
A. G. Swick ◽  
R. W. Swick

GDP binding to brown adipose tissue (BAT) mitochondria increased more than twofold in 20 min when rats were moved from 27 to 4 degrees C. When animals housed at 4 degrees C for 2 h were returned to 27 degrees C, GDP binding decreased sharply in 20 min and returned to control levels in 2 h. These results are consistent with a rapid unmasking and remasking of GDP binding sites. GDP binding to mitochondria from warm and acutely cold treated rats was not modified by prior swelling, by freeze-thawing, nor by sonication of the mitochondria before assay. GDP-inhibitable proton conductance, as measured by passive swelling, was unaffected by this brief exposure to cold but more than doubled in rats kept at 4 degrees C for 10 days. We hypothesize that the rate of GDP-inhibitable swelling may be a reflection of uncoupling protein concentration in the BAT mitochondria, whereas physiological thermogenic activity is more appropriately indicated by GDP binding. The alterations in binding activity appear not to be due to changes in the mitochondrial membrane integrity.

1991 ◽  
Vol 279 (2) ◽  
pp. 575-579 ◽  
Author(s):  
P Puigserver ◽  
I Lladó ◽  
A Palou ◽  
M Gianotti

A specific immunoassay of uncoupling protein (UCP) and measurement of GDP binding were used to study the chronic responses of brown adipose tissue (BAT) mitochondria from rats made obese by dietary means (cafeteria rats) and from obese rats subsequently fed a standard diet (post-cafeteria rats). We studied the response to fasting in order to assess the masking/unmasking responses in these groups. These studies have shown the following. (1) In the obese rats (cafeteria and post-cafeteria) the chronic increase in mitochondrial UCP concentration compared with controls parallels the increase in GDP binding. (2) In 24 h-fasted control rats the decrease in GDP binding is associated with a change in UCP concentration, but in fasting cafeteria and post-cafeteria obese rats the decrease in GDP binding is not associated with any change in UCP concentration. (3) Post-cafeteria obese rats showed increased GDP binding and higher UCP concentrations than the controls, but these values were less than in cafeteria obese rats. (4) Control rats at 8 months old showed greater GDP binding and had a higher UCP concentration than 11-month-old control rats. (5) The responses of GDP binding and UCP concentration to fasting in post-cafeteria obese rats were similar to those in cafeteria obese rats, suggesting that such abbreviations are related to the obese status itself rather than to the composition of the cafeteria diet. The evidence supports the hypothesis that the response of the cafeteria and post-cafeteria obese rats to fasting is associated with a masking of UCP, whereas with chronic manipulation of diet changes in UCP concentration predominate.


1983 ◽  
Vol 210 (3) ◽  
pp. 859-866 ◽  
Author(s):  
D Ricquier ◽  
J P Barlet ◽  
J M Garel ◽  
M Combes-George ◽  
M P Dubois

1. Ewes were injected with purified 32,000-Mr uncoupling protein from mitochondria of brown adipose tissue of cold-adapted rats in order to raise antibodies. 2. The existence of antibodies in the plasma of ewes and the cross-reactivity of plasmas were demonstrated and studied by 125I-labelled antigen-antibody reaction, double immunodiffusion, the inhibition of GDP binding to the 32,000 Mr protein and by immunohistochemistry. 3. The antibodies raised against the homogeneous protein yielded a single immunoprecipitation band with detergent-solubilized mitochondrial membranes of brown adipose tissue from rat, hamster, guinea-pig, rabbit and with the purified uncoupling protein of these animals. No immunoprecipitation was obtained with the protein purified from brown adipose tissue of term lamb foetus. 4. The GDP-binding activity of the uncoupling protein (isolated or in solubilized membranes) was largely inhibited by the antiserum. 5. The anti-(rat uncoupling protein) could not cross-react with solubilized membranes from liver or muscle, nor with the purified beef heart or rat liver ADP/ATP translocator.


Endocrinology ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 155 (8) ◽  
pp. 2881-2891 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariana Nigro ◽  
Anderson T. Santos ◽  
Clarissa S. Barthem ◽  
Ruy A. N. Louzada ◽  
Rodrigo S. Fortunato ◽  
...  

Menopause is associated with increased visceral adiposity and disrupted glucose homeostasis, but the underlying molecular mechanisms related to these metabolic changes are still elusive. Brown adipose tissue (BAT) plays a key role in energy expenditure that may be regulated by sexual steroids, and alterations in glucose homeostasis could precede increased weight gain after ovariectomy. Thus, the aim of this work was to evaluate the metabolic pathways in both the BAT and the liver that may be disrupted early after ovariectomy. Ovariectomized (OVX) rats had increased food efficiency as early as 12 days after ovariectomy, which could not be explained by differences in feces content. Analysis of isolated BAT mitochondria function revealed no differences in citrate synthase activity, uncoupling protein 1 expression, oxygen consumption, ATP synthesis, or heat production in OVX rats. The addition of GDP and BSA to inhibit uncoupling protein 1 decreased oxygen consumption in BAT mitochondria equally in both groups. Liver analysis revealed increased triglyceride content accompanied by decreased levels of phosphorylated AMP-activated protein kinase and phosphorylated acetyl-CoA carboxylase in OVX animals. The elevated expression of gluconeogenic enzymes in OVX and OVX + estradiol rats was not associated with alterations in glucose tolerance test or in serum insulin but was coincident with higher glucose disposal during the pyruvate tolerance test. Although estradiol treatment prevented the ovariectomy-induced increase in body weight and hepatic triglyceride and cholesterol accumulation, it was not able to prevent increased gluconeogenesis. In conclusion, the disrupted liver glucose homeostasis after ovariectomy is neither caused by estradiol deficiency nor is related to increased body mass.


1988 ◽  
Vol 249 (3) ◽  
pp. 759-763 ◽  
Author(s):  
R E Milner ◽  
S Wilson ◽  
J R Arch ◽  
P Trayhurn

GDP binding, proton conductance and the specific concentration of uncoupling protein were measured in brown-adipose-tissue mitochondria of rats treated acutely with the novel beta-agonist, BRL 26830A. At 1 h after dosing with BRL 26830A, mitochondrial GDP binding was increased more than 2-fold. The increase in binding resulted from an increase in the number of binding sites. An iterative analysis of Scatchard binding data suggested that there is only one high-affinity GDP-binding site (Kd 0.3 microM) in brown-adipose-tissue mitochondria. The acute increase in GDP binding produced by treatment with BRL 26830A occurred without any alteration in the specific mitochondrial concentration of uncoupling protein, as determined by radioimmunoassay. Treatment with the beta-agonist did, however, lead to a small increase in the GDP-sensitive component of mitochondrial proton conductance. These results indicate that GDP-binding sites on uncoupling protein can be rapidly unmasked after treatment with a brown-fat-specific beta-agonist, and that the increase in binding reflects an increase in the activity of the mitochondrial proton-conductance pathway.


1999 ◽  
Vol 276 (6) ◽  
pp. E1073-E1082 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shadi Monemdjou ◽  
Leslie P. Kozak ◽  
Mary-Ellen Harper

Mice deficient in mitochondrial uncoupling protein (UCP) 1 are cold sensitive, despite abundant expression of the homologues, Ucp2 and Ucp3 (S. Enerbäck, A. Jacobsson, E. M. Simpson, C. Guerra, H. Yamashita, M.-E. Harper, and L. P. Kozak. Nature 387: 90–94, 1997). We have analyzed characteristics of mitochondrial proton leak from brown adipose tissue (BAT) of Ucp1-deficient mice and normal controls and conducted the first top-down metabolic control analysis of oxidative phosphorylation in BAT mitochondria. Because purine nucleotides inhibit UCP1 and because UCP2 and the long form of UCP3 have putative purine nucleotide-binding regions, we predicted that proton leak in BAT mitochondria from Ucp1-deficient mice would be sensitive to GDP. On the contrary, although control over mitochondrial oxygen consumption and proton leak reactions at state 4 are strongly affected by 1 mM GDP in mitochondria from normal mice, there is no effect in UCP1-deficient mitochondria. In the presence of GDP, the overall kinetics of proton leak were not significantly different between Ucp1-deficient mice and controls. In its absence, state 4 respiration in normal BAT mitochondria was double that in its presence. Leak-dependent oxygen consumption was higher over a range of membrane potentials in its absence than in its presence. Thus proton leak, potentially including that through UCP2 and UCP3, is GDP insensitive. However, our measurements were made in the presence of albumin and may not allow for the detection of any fatty acid-induced UCP-mediated leak; this possibility requires investigation.


1988 ◽  
Vol 255 (6) ◽  
pp. E865-E870
Author(s):  
A. G. Swick ◽  
R. W. Swick

Incubation in vitro of brown adipose tissue (BAT) mitochondria with divalent cations, spermine, or alkaline phosphatase led to a marked increase in the binding of [3H]GDP. The effect of Mg2+ appeared to be the most specific and led to the largest increase in GDP binding. A simplified method was developed for measuring GDP binding to purified uncoupling protein from rat BAT mitochondria. Application of this method indicates that uncoupling protein from cold-acclimated rats binds twice as much GDP as uncoupling protein from cold-acclimated rats that were briefly returned to thermoneutrality, paralleling changes in GDP binding to the mitochondria. Incubation of BAT mitochondria with Mg2+ led to a smaller increase in GDP binding to the subsequently purified uncoupling protein, suggesting that divalent cations may somehow participate in the regulation of the activity of the uncoupling protein.


2011 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leopoldo De Meis ◽  
Luisa A. Ketzer ◽  
Juliana Camacho-Pereira ◽  
Antonio Galina

The UCP1 [first UCP (uncoupling protein)] that is found in the mitochondria of brown adipocytes [BAT (brown adipose tissue)] regulates the heat production, a process linked to non-shivering thermogenesis. The activity of UCP1 is modulated by GDP and fatty acids. In this report, we demonstrate that respiration and heat released by BAT mitochondria vary depending on the respiratory substrate utilized and the coupling state of the mitochondria. It has already been established that, in the presence of pyruvate/malate, BAT mitochondria are coupled by faf-BSA (fatty-acid-free BSA) and GDP, leading to an increase in ATP synthesis and mitochondrial membrane potential along with simultaneous decreases in both the rates of respiration and heat production. Oleate restores the uncoupled state, inhibiting ATP synthesis and increasing the rates of both respiration and heat production. We now show that in the presence of succinate: (i) the rates of uncoupled mitochondria respiration and heat production are five times slower than in the presence of pyruvate/malate; (ii) faf-BSA and GDP accelerate heat and respiration as a result and, in coupled mitochondria, these two rates are accelerated compared with pyruvate/malate; (iii) in spite of the differences in respiration and heat production noted with the two substrates, the membrane potential and the ATP synthesized were the same; and (iv) oleate promoted a decrease in heat production and respiration in coupled mitochondria, an effect different from that observed using pyruvate/malate. These effects are not related to the production of ROS (reactive oxygen species). We suggest that succinate could stimulate a new route to heat production in BAT mitochondria.


1986 ◽  
Vol 233 (3) ◽  
pp. 743-747 ◽  
Author(s):  
C L Gribskov ◽  
M F Henningfield ◽  
A G Swick ◽  
R W Swick

Rats, previously acclimated to 29 degrees C, were moved into the cold (4 degrees C) for 2 h. Scatchard analysis of GDP binding to the brown-adipose-tissue mitochondria of these animals showed a 2.3-fold increase in the number of high-affinity sites and a 1.5-fold increase in the number of low-affinity sites compared with binding in animals maintained at 29 degrees C. Immunochemical determination showed no increase in the amount of mitochondrial uncoupling protein during this period. This strongly suggests an unmasking of existing GDP-binding sites before a detectable increase in synthesis of uncoupling protein can occur. Washing with albumin increased the number of GDP-binding sites of brown-adipose-tissue mitochondria from both warm-housed and cold-exposed animals to the same extent. This indicates that the effects of washing with albumin and cold exposure are independent and additive.


1989 ◽  
Vol 256 (1) ◽  
pp. R42-R48 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. E. Milner ◽  
L. C. Wang ◽  
P. Trayhurn

The thermogenic activity [mitochondrial guanosine 5'-diphosphate (GDP) binding] and capacity (uncoupling protein concentration, cytochrome oxidase activity) of brown adipose tissue have been investigated at different phases of the seasonally linked hibernation cycle in Richardson's ground squirrel. The amount of axillary brown adipose tissue and the total mitochondrial content of the tissue were substantially greater in hibernating squirrels than in squirrels caught posthibernation in April or May; cold acclimation induced qualitatively similar differences. The specific mitochondrial concentration of uncoupling protein was high under all conditions (compared with other species), differing little between hibernating, posthibernating, and cold-acclimated squirrels. The thermogenic capacity of brown adipose tissue in Richardson's ground squirrels is therefore modulated almost exclusively by changes in the mitochondrial content of the tissue. Mitochondrial GDP binding was increased on cold acclimation, but similar binding levels were observed in hibernating and posthibernation (May) animals. GDP binding and the GDP-sensitive component of acetate-induced mitochondrial swelling were increased during the early stages of arousal from hibernation. These changes, which indicate an activation of the thermogenic proton conductance pathway in arousal, occurred without an alteration in the specific mitochondrial concentration of uncoupling protein. Increased GDP binding during arousal is clearly due to the unmasking of binding sites, reflecting an acute activation of preexisting uncoupling protein.


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