scholarly journals A Change in Liver Metabolism but Not in Brown Adipose Tissue Thermogenesis Is an Early Event in Ovariectomy-Induced Obesity in Rats

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.

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.


2004 ◽  
Vol 18 (9) ◽  
pp. 2302-2311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael A. Nolan ◽  
Maria A. Sikorski ◽  
G. Stanley McKnight

Abstract Mice lacking the RIIβ regulatory subunit of protein kinase A exhibit a 50% reduction in white adipose tissue stores compared with wild-type littermates and are resistant to diet-induced obesity. RIIβ−/− mice also have an increase in resting oxygen consumption along with a 4-fold increase in the brown adipose-specific mitochondrial uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1). In this study, we examined the basis for UCP1 induction and tested the hypothesis that the induced levels of UCP1 in RIIβ null mice are essential for the lean phenotype. The induction of UCP1 occurred at the protein but not the mRNA level and correlated with an increase in mitochondria in brown adipose tissue. Mice lacking both RIIβ and UCP1 (RIIβ−/−/Ucp1−/−) were created, and the key parameters of metabolism and body composition were studied. We discovered that RIIβ−/− mice exhibit nocturnal hyperactivity in addition to the increased oxygen consumption at rest. Disruption of UCP1 in RIIβ−/− mice reduced basal oxygen consumption but did not prevent the nocturnal hyperactivity. The double knockout animals also retained the lean phenotype of the RIIβ null mice, demonstrating that induction of UCP1 and increased resting oxygen consumption is not the cause of leanness in the RIIβ mutant mice.


2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (22) ◽  
pp. 6973-6978 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Lee ◽  
Chrissie Willers ◽  
Edmund R. S. Kunji ◽  
Paul G. Crichton

Uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) catalyzes fatty acid-activated, purine nucleotide-sensitive proton leak across the mitochondrial inner membrane of brown adipose tissue to produce heat, and could help combat obesity and metabolic disease in humans. Studies over the last 30 years conclude that the protein is a dimer, binding one nucleotide molecule per two proteins, and unlike the related mitochondrial ADP/ATP carrier, does not bind cardiolipin. Here, we have developed novel methods to purify milligram amounts of UCP1 from native sources by using covalent chromatography that, unlike past methods, allows the protein to be prepared in defined conditions, free of excess detergent and lipid. Assessment of purified preparations by TLC reveal that UCP1 retains tightly bound cardiolipin, with a lipid phosphorus content equating to three molecules per protein, like the ADP/ATP carrier. Cardiolipin stabilizes UCP1, as demonstrated by reconstitution experiments and thermostability assays, indicating that the lipid has an integral role in the functioning of the protein, similar to other mitochondrial carriers. Furthermore, we find that UCP1 is not dimeric but monomeric, as indicated by size exclusion analysis, and has a ligand titration profile in isothermal calorimetric measurements that clearly shows that one nucleotide binds per monomer. These findings reveal the fundamental composition of UCP1, which is essential for understanding the mechanism of the protein. Our assessment of the properties of UCP1 indicate that it is not unique among mitochondrial carriers and so is likely to use a common exchange mechanism in its primary function in brown adipose tissue mitochondria.


2008 ◽  
Vol 19 (12) ◽  
pp. 840-847 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sachiko Nomura ◽  
Takashi Ichinose ◽  
Manabu Jinde ◽  
Yu Kawashima ◽  
Kaoru Tachiyashiki ◽  
...  

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.


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