Measurement by radioimmunoassay of the mitochondrial uncoupling protein from brown adipose tissue of obese (ob/ob) mice and Zucker (fa/fa) rats at different ages

Gene Expression Analysis of Environmental Temperature and High-Fat Diet-Induced Changes in Mouse Supraclavicular Brown Adipose Tissue

Obesity, a dysregulation of adipose tissue, is a major health risk factor associated with many diseases. Brown adipose tissue (BAT)-mediated thermogenesis can potentially regulate energy expenditure, making it an attractive therapeutic target to combat obesity. Here, we characterize the effects of cold exposure, thermoneutrality, and high-fat diet (HFD) feeding on mouse supraclavicular BAT (scBAT) morphology and BAT-associated gene expression compared to other adipose depots, including the interscapular BAT (iBAT). scBAT was as sensitive to cold induced thermogenesis as iBAT and showed reduced thermogenic effect under thermoneutrality. While both scBAT and iBAT are sensitive to cold, the expression of genes involved in nutrient processing is different. The scBAT also showed less depot weight gain and more single-lipid adipocytes, while the expression of BAT thermogenic genes, such as Ucp1, remained similar or increased more under our HFD feeding regime at ambient and thermoneutral temperatures than iBAT. Together, these findings show that, in addition to its anatomical resemblance to human scBAT, mouse scBAT possesses thermogenic features distinct from those of other adipose depots. Lastly, this study also characterizes a previously unknown mouse deep neck BAT (dnBAT) depot that exhibits similar thermogenic characteristics as scBAT under cold exposure and thermoneutrality.

Leptin: Is It Thermogenic?

Animals that lack the hormone leptin become grossly obese, purportedly for 2 reasons: increased food intake and decreased energy expenditure (thermogenesis). This review examines the experimental evidence for the thermogenesis component. Analysis of the data available led us to conclude that the reports indicating hypometabolism in the leptin-deficient ob/ob mice (as well as in the leptin-receptor-deficient db/db mice and fa/fa rats) derive from a misleading calculation artefact resulting from expression of energy expenditure per gram of body weight and not per intact organism. Correspondingly, the body weight-reducing effects of leptin are not augmented by enhanced thermogenesis. Congruent with this, there is no evidence that the ob/ob mouse demonstrates atrophied brown adipose tissue or diminished levels of total UCP1 mRNA or protein when the ob mutation is studied on the inbred C57BL/6 mouse background, but a reduced sympathetic nerve activity is observed. On the outbred "Aston" mouse background, brown adipose tissue atrophy is seen, but whether this is of quantitative significance for the development of obesity has not been demonstrated. We conclude that leptin is not a thermogenic hormone. Rather, leptin has effects on body temperature regulation, by opposing torpor bouts and by shifting thermoregulatory thresholds. The central pathways behind these effects are largely unexplored.

Obesity Pathogenesis: An Endocrine Society Scientific Statement

Obesity is among the most common and costly chronic disorders worldwide. Estimates suggest that in the United States obesity affects one-third of adults, accounts for up to one-third of total mortality, is concentrated among lower income groups, and increasingly affects children as well as adults. A lack of effective options for long-term weight reduction magnifies the enormity of this problem; individuals who successfully complete behavioral and dietary weight-loss programs eventually regain most of the lost weight. We included evidence from basic science, clinical, and epidemiological literature to assess current knowledge regarding mechanisms underlying excess body-fat accumulation, the biological defense of excess fat mass, and the tendency for lost weight to be regained. A major area of emphasis is the science of energy homeostasis, the biological process that maintains weight stability by actively matching energy intake to energy expenditure over time. Growing evidence suggests that obesity is a disorder of the energy homeostasis system, rather than simply arising from the passive accumulation of excess weight. We need to elucidate the mechanisms underlying this "upward setting" or "resetting" of the defended level of body-fat mass, whether inherited or acquired. The ongoing study of how genetic, developmental, and environmental forces affect the energy homeostasis system will help us better understand these mechanisms and are therefore a major focus of this statement. The scientific goal is to elucidate obesity pathogenesis so as to better inform treatment, public policy, advocacy, and awareness of obesity in ways that ultimately diminish its public health and economic consequences.

Origins and early development of the concept that brown adipose tissue thermogenesis is linked to energy balance and obesity

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) was identified as a thermogenic organ in 1961, and in 1978 shown to be the major site of thermoregulatory non-shivering thermogenesis in rats acclimated to the cold. Investigations in the mid-late 1970s established the uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation through a proton conductance pathway across the mitochondrial inner membrane as the mechanism for heat production in BAT, this being regulated by UCP1 which was first discovered as a 32,000 M_r cold-inducible protein. These developments came when those concerned with nutritional energetics were proposing that thermogenesis is a significant factor in energy balance and the aetiology of obesity. A link with BAT was first demonstrated in obese ob/ob mice, which were shown to have decreased thermogenic activity in the tissue, and in rats exhibiting diet-induced thermogenesis (DIT) during overfeeding on a cafeteria diet where an activation of brown fat was evident. These pioneering observations led to extensive studies on BAT in different animal models of obesity, both genetic (particularly ob/ob and db/db mice, fa/fa rats) and experimentally-induced. In each case, indices of BAT activity and capacity (mitochondrial content, GDP binding, amount of UCP1) indicated that the tissue plays a role in DIT and that obesity is characterised by reduced thermogenesis. Links between BAT and whole-body energetics were also made in physiological situations such as lactation and fasting. Studies in the 1980s also provided clear evidence for the presence of BAT in adult humans, particularly through the detection of UCP1, and its activation in patients with phaeochromocytoma. Interest in BAT in energetics and obesity waned by the 1990s; the current major renewal of interest has undoubtedly been contingent on the pioneering developments that emerged some 40 years ago.

Leptin Raises Defended Body Temperature without Activating Thermogenesis

Leptin has been believed to exert its weight-reducing action not only by inducing hypophagia but also by increasing energy expenditure/thermogenesis. Leptin-deficient ob/ob mice have correspondingly been thought to be thermogenically limited and to show hypothermia, mainly due to atrophied brown adipose tissue (BAT). In contrast to these established views, we found that BAT is fully functional and that leptin treatment did not increase thermogenesis in wild-type or in ob/ob mice. Rather, ob/ob mice showed a decreased but defended body temperature (i.e., were anapyrexic, not hypothermic) that was normalized to wild-type levels after leptin treatment. This was not accompanied by increased energy expenditure or BAT recruitment but, instead, was mediated by decreased tail heat loss. The weight-reducing hypophagic effects of leptin are, therefore, not augmented through a thermogenic effect of leptin; leptin is, however, pyrexic, i.e., it alters centrally regulated thresholds of thermoregulatory mechanisms, in parallel to effects of other cytokines.

Reducing Adiposity in a Critical Developmental Window Has Lasting Benefits in Mice

Although most adults can lose weight by dieting, a well-characterized compensatory decrease in energy expenditure promotes weight regain more than 90% of the time. Using mice with impaired hypothalamic leptin signaling as a model of early-onset hyperphagia and obesity, we explored whether this unfavorable response to weight loss could be circumvented by early intervention. Early-onset obesity was associated with impairments in the structure and function of brown adipose tissue mitochondria, which were ameliorated by weight loss at any age. Although decreased sympathetic tone in weight-reduced adults resulted in net reductions in brown adipose tissue thermogenesis and energy expenditure that promoted rapid weight regain, this was not the case when dietary interventions were initiated at weaning. Enhanced energy expenditure persisted even after mice were allowed to resume overeating, leading to lasting reductions in adiposity. These findings reveal a time window when dietary interventions can produce metabolic improvements that are stably maintained.

Developmental influences on circuits programming susceptibility to obesity

Suboptimal maternal nutrition exerts lasting impacts on obesity risk in offspring, but the direction of the effect is determined by the timing of exposure. While maternal undernutrition in early pregnancy is associated with increased body mass index, in later pregnancy it can be protective. The importance of the timing of maternal undernutrition is also observed in rodents, however, many of the processes that occur in the last trimester of human gestation are delayed to the postnatal period. Neonatal leptin administration exerts lasting impacts on susceptibility to obesity in rodents. Although leptin can influence the formation of hypothalamic circuits involved in homeostatic control of feeding during the postnatal period, these effects are too late to account for its ability to reverse adverse metabolic programming due to early gestational exposure to maternal undernutrition. This review presents an alternative framework for understanding the effects of neonatal leptin through influences on developing thermoregulatory circuits.

Toward an animal model of childhood-onset obesity: follow-up of OLETF rats during pregnancy and lactation

The Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF) rat model of obesity (a spontaneous CCK1 receptor knockout) has been extensively studied as model of hyperphagia-induced obesity. In previous studies, young OLETF rats presented abnormal eating patterns [compared with Long-Evans Tokushima Otsuka (LETO) controls] in a variety of independent ingestion and nursing tests during the suckling period. The aim of the present study was to characterize the early emergence of abnormal adiposity in the pups. Moreover, because both the dams and the pups present the genetic mutation, a close follow-up of the dams' body weight and intake during pregnancy and lactation was performed to examine the circumstances that contribute to build up the pups' early adiposity. Compared with controls, OLETF pups presented higher fat levels, larger adipocytes, and increased waist circumference as early as postnatal day 7 and this profile persisted to the age of weaning. While LETO dams gained weight throughout pregnancy and lactation, OLETF dams were obese and hyperphagic during pregnancy but lost weight during lactation, probably as a result of rearing hyperphagic pups. Current and previous results suggest a possible influence of the dams' obesity during gestation and a high investment in nursing time during lactation on the pups' obesity levels during childhood. This, combined with the innate hyperphagia repeatedly observed in the pups at these early ages, makes the OLETF strain a useful tool in the research of childhood-onset obesity.

Mechanisms for LEPR-mediated regulation of leptin expression in brown and white adipocytes in rat pups

To investigate the underlying mechanisms for leptin receptor (LEPR)-mediated regulation of leptin gene (Lep) expression in brown (BAT) and white (WAT) adipose tissue and resultant effects on plasma leptin concentrations (plasma-LEP), we examined effects of sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity, caloric balance, and body fat content on leptin mRNA levels in BAT and WAT in 10-day-old rat pups segregating for Lepr(fa). In mother-reared pups, Lep mRNA levels were fa/fa > +/fa = +/+ in BAT and was fa/fa > +/fa > +/+ in WAT. The genotype effects on Lep expression in BAT and plasma-LEP were virtually eliminated when the differences in SNS activity between fa/fa and +/fa pups were equalized by artificial rearing of pups under thermoneutral conditions with or without oral norepinephrine (NE) administration. NE administration alone had little effect on the Lepr(fa)-dependent stratification of Lep expression in WAT. BAT-Lep mRNA was the main determinant of plasma-LEP. Metabolic rate, a surrogate indicator of SNS activity, explained 87% of the variation in BAT-Lep mRNA (R(2) = 0.93), whereas caloric balance (40%) and body fat mass (6%) accounted for most of the variation in WAT-Lep mRNA (R(2) = 0.53). We conclude that feedback regulation of Lep expression in BAT is primarily via central nervous system-mediated effects of leptin on SNS activity, whereas the control of leptin expression in WAT is more likely via mechanisms not directly dependent on SNS activity.

Induction of uncoupling protein expression in brown and white adipose tissue by leptin

Deposition of excess body fat occurs when energy intake chronically exceeds energy expenditure. In ob/ob mice, the absence of leptin affects both components of the energy balance equation, and the mice become morbidly obese after weaning. Treatment of ob/ob mice with exogenous leptin reduces body weight by decreasing food intake and stimulating energy utilization, but even when saline- and leptin-injected ob/ob mice are pair-fed, mice receiving leptin lose significantly more weight. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to test the hypotheses that uncoupling protein-1 (UCP1) expression is reduced in adipose tissue from ob/ob mice and is restored by treatment with exogenous leptin. Lean and ob/ob mice (5-6 weeks old) were housed at 23 C and treated with leptin (20 microg/g BW x day) for 3 days before they were killed. Compared with levels in lean littermates, UCP1 messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein levels were lower in brown adipose tissue (BAT) and retroperitoneal white adipose tissue (WAT) from ob/ob mice. Treatment of ob/ob mice with leptin reduced body weight and produced a 4- to 5-fold increase in UCP1 mRNA levels in both interscapular BAT and retroperitoneal WAT. The increases in UCP1 mRNA were accompanied by comparable increases in UCP1 protein in mitochondrial preparations from each tissue. Given that the sole known function of UCP1 is to uncouple oxidative phosphorylation, the present results are consistent with the conclusion that leptin stimulates energy utilization in ob/ob mice by increasing thermogenic activity and capacity (UCP1). In addition, the present results suggest that decreased UCP1 expression in BAT and WAT of ob/ob mice is in part responsible for their increased metabolic efficiency and propensity to become obese.

Effect of age on brown adipose tissue activity in the obese (ob/ob) mouse

Brown adipose tissue (BAT), a highly thermogenic tissue in young animals, is relatively atrophied and thermogenetically quiescent (e.g. as measured by colonic temperature) in mice that are obese or old. The aim of the current study was to investigate the effect of aging (3.1 (young) versus 14.6 (old) months old) on BAT activity in lean and obese (ob/ob) mice. In young but not in old mice, BAT mass in terms of weight per unit body weight was significantly lower in obese mice than in lean mice. A significant increase in BAT mass of obese mice with age was noted in terms of weight or weight per unit body weight, probably because of a tendency to become white adipose tissue and the deposit of fat, accompanied by the lowest levels of total protein, guanosine 5'-diphosphate binding, and uncoupling protein (UCP) antigen in the mitochondria of BAT, as well as the lowest colonic temperature among the groups examined. Unlike old lean animals, the old obese (ob/ob) animals did not increase but rather decreased the expression of mRNA for UCP in the mitochondria of BAT. These findings suggest that a marked decrease in BAT thermogenic capacity and activity is noted in old obese mice, probably due to synergism of aging and obesity.

Metabolic alterations associated with the antidiabetic effect of beta 3-adrenergic receptor agonists in obese mice

Treatment of obese (ob/ob) mice with the beta 3-adrenergic receptor (beta 3-AR) agonist BRL-35135 (1 mg.kg body wt-1.day-1 for 20 days) normalized plasma glucose levels and significantly decreased plasma insulin and nonesterified fatty acid levels. The time frame for the hypoglycemic effect, which reached a maximum after 10 days of treatment, paralleled an increase in brown adipose tissue DNA and protein content. The basal level of mRNA for the beta 3-AR and mitochondrial uncoupling protein was found to be markedly decreased in the ob/ob animals relative to the lean group. Chronic treatment of ob/ob mice for 20 days resulted in a twofold increase in beta 3-AR mRNA and a fivefold increase in uncoupling protein mRNA in brown adipose tissue relative to the placebo group. These findings indicate that chronic treatment of ob/ob animals with a beta 3-AR agonist results in proliferation of brown adipose tissue, with an upregulation of the beta 3-AR, which is associated with a decrease in plasma glucose, insulin, and nonesterified fatty acid levels.

Angiotensin II in brown adipose tissue from young and adult Zucker obese and lean rats

Previous studies demonstrated that interscapular brown adipose tissue (ISBAT) produces angiotensin II (ANG II), which facilitates sympathetic neurotransmission (SN). ANG II content and regulation of SN were examined in young (17 days) and adult (16 wk) Zucker obese and lean rats. ANG II content in ISBAT from preobese rats was decreased compared with lean littermates. Evoked 3H overflow in ISBAT slices preloaded with [3H]NE was greater in preobese rats compared with control. ANG II increased evoked 3H overflow in ISBAT slices to a greater extent in preobese rats compared with control. [3H]NE uptake in ISBAT slices from preobese rats was decreased compared with control. In adult obese rats, plasma renin activity was decreased compared with control. ISBAT ANG II content was increased in adult obese rats compared with control. Evoked 3H overflow in ISBAT slices preloaded with [3H]NE was not different between obese and control. ANG II did not increase evoked 3H overflow in obese rats; however, ANG II increased evoked 3H overflow in lean rats. [3H]NE uptake in ISBAT slices from obese rats was decreased compared with control. These results suggest that ANG II modulation of SN activity is decreased in ISBAT from adult obese rats. In contrast, in young obese rats, increased SN activity and ANG II regulation of SN were evident in brown adipose tissue.

Cold-induced changes in brown adipose tissue thermogenic capacity of immunocompetent and immunodeficient hairless mice

Mild cold acclimation (22 degrees C, 3 weeks) of hairless mice was shown to increase 5-fold the brown adipose tissue uncoupling protein content in immunodeficient BALB/c nu/nu mice, but by only 2.3-fold in immunocompetent BFU mice. The difference in activation of brown adipose tissue thermogenic capacity was due to a 2-fold increase in the content of brown adipose tissue in nu/nu mice only, which was paralleled by an increase in brown adipose tissue protein but not DNA content. Likewise, only in nu/nu mice the cold acclimation increased the reaction of natural killer cells in blood and peritoneal exudate with a shift from spleen to lymph nodes and increased the phagocytic index. The results indicate that the immune system may influence the defence against cold at the level of brown adipose tissue thermogenesis.

ATPase-inhibitor proteins of brown-adipose-tissue mitochondria from warm- and cold-acclimated rats

1. A group of male Sprague-Dawley rats (5-6 weeks old) was cold-acclimated at 4 degrees C for 4 weeks. Warm-acclimated controls remained at 24 degrees C. Total protein content of brown adipose tissue (BAT) increased more than 3-fold and total uncoupling protein (UCP) content increased more than 6-fold upon cold-acclimation. The concentration of UCP in isolated BAT mitochondria almost doubled. 2. Specific ATPase activity of the non-thermogenic BAT mitochondria (from warm-acclimated controls) was low and increased about 6-fold on addition of 1 microM-Ca2+, which raised free Ca2+ levels (measured by Fura-2) in the incubation media from 1.32 +/- 0.28 microM (mean +/- S.E.M.) to 2.29 +/- 0.39 microM [at which the Ca(2+)-binding ATPase-inhibitor protein (CaBI) is inactivated]. Correspondingly, the specific ATP synthetase activity of the non-thermogenic BAT mitochondria was high and was decreased by 74% by addition of 1 microM-Ca2+. 3. In contrast, specific ATPase activity of thermogenic BAT mitochondria (from cold-acclimated rats) was 5 times that of the control group, and addition of Ca2+ had only a small stimulatory response. Correspondingly, the specific ATP synthetase activity of the thermogenic BAT mitochondria was low, and the decrease by Ca2+ was small, albeit significant. 4. Extracts of BAT mitochondria from both groups of animals contained significant amounts of the ATPase-inhibitor protein of Pullman and Monroy (PMI) as well as of CaBI, as shown by gel electrophoresis. Kinetic studies of inhibition of mitochondrial ATPase activity showed that PMI activity was unaltered in extracts from the thermogenic BAT mitochondria, whereas CaBI activity was slightly but significantly increased. 5. The presence of active ATPase-inhibitor proteins in BAT mitochondria was shown for the first time. We conclude that uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation occurs in thermogenic BAT mitochondria, even in the presence of the ATPase-inhibitor proteins.

ICI D7114 a novel selective beta-adrenoceptor agonist selectively stimulates brown fat and increases whole-body oxygen consumption

1. ICI D7114 is a novel, beta-adrenoceptor agonist which stimulates whole body oxygen consumption in conscious rats, cats and dogs and brown adipose tissue (BAT) activity in conscious rats. Treatment of rats with ICI D7114 stimulated oxygen consumption (ED50, 0.04 mg kg-1, p.o.) and BAT mitochondrial guanosine diphosphate (GDP)-binding (ED50, 0.15 mg kg-1, p.o.) with no chronotropic effects on the heart at these doses. 2. Reference beta-adrenoceptor agonists, isoprenaline and clenbuterol, also stimulated oxygen consumption and BAT activity but were less selective because they also produced effects on heart rate at these doses. 3. Treatment of conscious rats with ICI D7114 did not attenuate the chronotropic effects on the heart of a subsequent isoprenaline challenge. 4. Administration of ICI D7114 or of its acid metabolite had no effect in a cat soleus muscle model of tremor or on blood potassium levels in the conscious dog, indicating lack of effects at beta 2-adrenoceptors. 5. The results indicate that ICI D7114 may have activity at atypical beta-adrenoceptors in brown adipose tissue leading to increased whole body oxygen consumption.

Pyruvate dehydrogenase-complex activity in brown adipose tissue of gold thioglucose-obese mice

The activity of pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) complex and PDH kinase were measured in brown adipose tissue (BAT) of 4-week-gold thioglucose (GTG)-obese mice. The proportion of PDH complex in the active dephosphorylated form was 2-fold higher in BAT of post-absorptive obese mice compared with lean controls. This result was consistent with the higher circulating insulin concentration observed in GTG-obese mice. In both obese and lean mice the PDH-complex activity in BAT decreased after 24 h starvation and increased in response to supraphysiological insulin injection, indicating that the PDH complex is insulin-responsive in BAT of GTG-obese mice. There was no difference in the PDH kinase activity of BAT in post-absorptive or insulin-injected lean and obese mice, suggesting that the higher PDH-complex activity in obese mice was not due to decreased PDH kinase activity. There is no evidence for a decreased activity of PDH complex contributing to insulin resistance in BAT of 4-week-GTG-obese mice.

The novel thermogenic beta-adrenergic agonist Ro 16-8714 increases the interscapular brown-fat beta-receptor-adenylate cyclase and the uncoupling-protein mRNA level in obese (fa/fa) Zucker rats

In obese (fa/fa) rats both the total (-)-isoprenaline- and NaF-stimulated adenylate cyclase activities of interscapular brown-adipose-tissue (IBAT) plasma membranes were decreased as compared with lean rats by 40 and 38% respectively. An acute treatment with Ro 16-8714 increased (-)-isoprenaline- and NaF-stimulated adenylate cyclase activities by 2.5- and 2.0-fold respectively, and beta-adrenoceptor number 2.8-fold in obese rat IBAT, but it had no effect on these parameters in lean rats. It increased mRNA for mitochondrial uncoupling protein in both lean and obese rats to the same extent.

Changes in the lipogenic response to feeding of liver, white adipose tissue and brown adipose tissue during the development of obesity in the gold-thioglucose-injected mouse

Lipogenic response to feeding was measured in vivo in liver, epididymal white adipose tissue (WAT) and interscapular brown adipose tissue (BAT), during the development of obesity in gold-thioglucose (GTG)-injected mice. The fatty acid synthesis after a meal was higher in all tissues of GTG-treated mice on a total-tissue basis, but the magnitude of this increase varied, depending on the tissue and the time after the initiation of obesity. Lipogenesis in BAT from GTG mice was double that of control mice for the first 2 weeks, but subsequently decreased to near control values. In WAT, lipogenesis after feeding was highest 2-4 weeks after GTG injection, and in liver, lipid synthesis in fed obese mice was greatest at 7-12 weeks after the induction of obesity. The post-prandial insulin concentration was increased after 2 weeks of obesity, and serum glucose concentration was higher in fed obese mice after 4 weeks. These results indicate that increased lipogenesis in GTG-injected mice may be due to an increase in insulin concentration after feeding and that insulin resistance (assessed by lipogenic response to insulin release) is apparent in BAT before WAT and liver.

Experimental obesity: a homeostatic failure due to defective nutrient stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system

The basic hypothesis of this review is that studies on models of experimental obesity can provide insight into the control systems regulating body nutrient stores in humans. In this homeostatic or feedback approach to analysis of the nutrient control system, we have examined the afferent feedback signals, the central controller, and the efferent control elements regulating the controlled system of nutrient intake, storage, and oxidation. The mechanisms involved in the beginning and ending of single meals must clearly be related to the long-term changes in fat stores, although this relationship is far from clear. Changes in total nutrient storage in adipose tissue can arise as a consequence of changes in the quantity of nutrients ingested in one form or another or a decrease in the utilization of the ingested nutrients. A change in energy intake can be effected by increased size of individual meals, increased number of meals in a 24-hour period, or a combination of these events. Similarly, a decrease in utilization of these nutrients can develop through changes in resting metabolic energy expenditure which are associated with one of more of the biological cycles such as protein metabolism, triglyceride for glycogen synthesis and breakdown, or maintenance of ionic gradients for Na+ + K+ across cell walls. In addition, differences in energy expenditure related to the thermogenesis of eating or to the level of physical activity may account for differences in nutrient utilization.

A study of GDP binding to purified thermogenin protein from brown adipose tissue

1. The binding of GDP to purified thermogenin protein was studied by using fluorescence spectroscopy and equilibrium dialysis. 2. GDP binding to thermogenin diminished fluorescence emission in a concentration-dependent manner that exhibited saturation. 3. Kd values for binding of nucleoside di- and tri-phosphates were lower than those for nucleoside monophosphates. 4. The GDP-induced fluorescence quenching was decreased by increasing pH, but the apparent Kd was unaltered by pH changes. 5. Equilibrium dialysis showed a Kd change from 3 to 6 microM when the pH was increased from 6.6 to 8.5. 6. The apparent pK of the fluorescence changes induced by pH (8.3) was identical with the apparent pK of the GDP-binding response. 7. The data are consistent with the existence of protonated and non-protonated forms of thermogenin protein that both bind GDP.

Alpha 1- and beta-adrenergic receptors in brown adipose tissue of lean (Fa/?) and obese (fa/fa) Zucker rats. Effects of cold-acclimation, sucrose feeding and adrenalectomy

1. The populations of alpha 1- and beta-adrenergic receptors in brown adipose tissue (BAT) of genetically obese Zucker rats (fa/fa) were studied with [3H]prazosin and [3H]CGP-12177 respectively. 2. The density of alpha 1-adrenergic receptors in BAT was significantly lower in obese than in lean Zucker rats, both at 2-4 months of age and at 6 weeks of age. The density of beta-adrenergic receptors was identical in BAT of lean and obese 6-week-old Zucker rats. 3. Cold-acclimation increased the alpha 1-receptor density significantly in BAT of both lean and obese Zucker rats, and the number of beta-receptors was also somewhat increased. 4. Sucrose feeding did not affect the density of alpha 1-receptors in BAT of lean or obese Zucker rats, but it increased beta-receptor density. 5. Adrenalectomy restored the density of alpha 1-adrenergic receptors in BAT of obese Zucker rats to the value observed in lean rats. 6. It is concluded that there is a direct correlation between alpha 1-receptor density and tissue recruitment, and that alpha 1-receptor density is thus positively correlated with sympathetic activity. beta-Receptor density is apparently better correlated with feeding conditions.

Regulation of GDP binding and uncoupling-protein concentration in brown-adipose-tissue mitochondria. The effects of cold-acclimation, warm-reacclimation and noradrenaline

We have used a specific immunoassay for uncoupling protein and [3H]GDP binding to study the acute and chronic responses of brown-adipose-tissue (BAT) mitochondria of warm-acclimated rats to housing at 4 degrees C and cold-acclimated rats to housing at 27 degrees C. These studies have shown the following. (1) In the cold-exposed rat the increase in mitochondrial uncoupling-protein concentration parallels the increase in GDP binding from 1 day to 5 days, but that acutely (initial 4 h) the increase in GDP binding is not associated with any change in uncoupling-protein concentration. 2. In the cold-acclimated rat rehoused at 27 degrees C, GDP binding fell by over 50% in the first 2 days, without any change in uncoupling-protein concentrations. 3. Noradrenaline acutely (30 min) increased BAT mitochondrial GDP binding of lean and obese Zucker rats, without any change in uncoupling-protein concentrations. 4. The increases in GDP binding in cold-exposed rats were associated with increases in the rate of swelling of mitochondria in the presence of valinomycin and potassium acetate. The evidence supports the hypothesis that the acute response of the rat to changes in environmental temperature are associated with unmasking or remasking of uncoupling protein, whereas chronically changes in uncoupling-protein concentration predominate.

Apparent unmasking of [3H]GDP binding in rat brown-fat mitochondria is due to mitochondrial swelling

The presence of and biochemical background for the so-called 'unmasking' phenomenon in rat brown-fat mitochondria was investigated (i.e. the apparent increase in [3H]GDP binding to the 'uncoupling' protein thermogenin, without a concomitant increase in the amount of the protein). It was found that an unmasking could be observed both 1 h after norepinephrine injection and after 1 h cold stress, provided that the rats were preacclimated to 28 degrees C. The unmasking could be observed both when a filtration method and when a centrifugation method for determination of [3H]GDP-binding capacity were used; however, the absolute values were higher with the filtration method. Based on observations of slower cytochrome-c oxidase sedimentation during centrifugation, the possibility that the matrix volume of brown-fat mitochondria isolated from warm-acclimated animals was smaller than that of cold-stressed animals was investigated with 3H2O. The cold stress increased the matrix volume from being nearly non-existent to about 1 microliter/mg. A preswelling procedure in an ionic medium could similarly increase the matrix volume in mitochondria from warm-acclimated animals but was without significant effect in the already swollen mitochondria from cold-stressed animals or from animals adapted to a lower temperature. In mitochondria from warm-acclimated animals, the ionic preswelling procedure was fully able to increase the apparent amount of GDP binding to that observed in mitochondria from cold-stressed animals, but it was practically without effect on GDP binding in mitochondria from cold-stressed animals or from animals acclimated to a lower temperature. It is concluded that the apparent 'unmasking' phenomenon, observed when the tissue is less activated than in normal control situations, is not (as hitherto anticipated) due to a specific change in thermogenin as such, but is a reflection of a general mitochondrial phenomenon.

Effect of warm or cold exposure on GDP binding and uncoupling protein in rat brown fat

The effects of acute and chronic exposure to different environmental temperatures on the total tissue cytochrome oxidase activity, level of mitochondrial GDP binding, and specific mitochondrial concentration of uncoupling protein have been investigated in rat brown adipose tissue, a radioimmunoassay being used to measure uncoupling protein. Acclimation at different temperatures for 3 wk produced parallel changes in GDP binding, the concentration of uncoupling protein, and the activity of cytochrome oxidase, each parameter rising with decreasing temperature between thermoneutrality (29 degrees C) and 4 degrees C. Acute exposure of warm-acclimated (29 degrees C) rats to the cold (4 degrees C) led to a rapid increase in GDP binding without any alteration in the amount of uncoupling protein. The increase in binding was accompanied by an increase in the rate of acetate-induced swelling of the mitochondria. The concentration of uncoupling protein in warm-acclimated rats was significantly raised only after 48 h exposure to cold. When cold-acclimated rats were exposed acutely to the warm, there was a rapid decrease in GDP binding without any alteration in the amount of uncoupling protein. It is concluded that after alterations in environmental temperature the concentration of uncoupling protein in brown adipose tissue mitochondria changes much more slowly than GDP binding and that binding can therefore be dissociated from the amount of the protein.

Evidence that fasting can induce a selective loss of uncoupling protein from brown adipose tissue mitochondria of mice

The effects of fasting and refeeding on the concentration of uncoupling protein in brown adipose tissue mitochondria have been investigated in mice. Fasting mice for 48 h led to a large decrease in the total cytochrome oxidase activity of the interscapular brown fat pad. Mitochondrial GDP binding and the specific mitochondrial concentration of uncoupling protein also fell on fasting. After 24 h refeeding both GDP binding and the mitochondrial concentration of uncoupling protein were normalized, but there was no alteration in the total tissue cytochrome oxidase activity. Fasting appears to induce a selective loss of uncoupling protein from brown adipose tissue mitochondria, which is rapidly reversible on refeeding.

Evidence for unmasking of rat brown-adipose-tissue mitochondrial GDP-binding sites in response to acute cold exposure. Effects of washing with albumin on GDP binding

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.

Effects of ciglitazone on insulin resistance and thermogenic responsiveness to acute cold in brown adipose tissue of genetically obese (ob/ob) mice

Genetically obese (ob/ob) mice develop a marked insulin resistance in brown adipose tissue soon after weaning, and this is paralleled by a fall in the acute activation of the mitochondrial proton conductance pathway in the tissue on cold exposure. Treatment of ob/ob mice with ciglitazone, a new oral hypoglycaemic, led to a restoration of insulin sensitivity in brown adipose tissue. The amelioration of insulin resistance was accompanied by a normalization of the acute, cold-induced increase in mitochondrial GDP binding. These results support the hypothesis that the development of insulin resistance in brown adipose tissue is an important factor in the impaired thermogenic responsiveness of obese mice.

Effect of caging singly or in groups of different sizes on the thermogenic activity of interscapular brown adipose tissue in mice

The effects on the thermogenic activity of brown adipose tissue of caging mice singly or in groups of different sizes has been investigated. At 23 degrees C the total cytochrome oxidase activity and the level of mitochondrial GDP binding were higher in mice caged singly than in mice caged in groups of three or six. At 4 degrees C GDP binding and cytochrome oxidase activity were lower in mice caged in groups of two, three or six than in mice caged singly. The mitochondrial concentration of uncoupling protein was not clearly affected by the number of mice in each cage.

Thermogenic and lipogenic activities in brown adipose tissue of I-strain mice

The thermogenic capacity of brown adipose tissue has been investigated in I-strain mice to determine whether this tissue could play a role in the lower efficiency of food utilization reported in this strain of mice. (1) As compared with C57BL mice (a control strain), interscapular-brown-adipose-tissue weight and lipid percentage were decreased by 40% and 13% respectively in I-strain mice. (2) Mitochondrial protein content and cytochrome c oxidase activity were similar in the two strains, but the number of mitochondrial GDP-binding sites and uncoupling-protein content were increased by 2-fold in I-strain mice. (3) Fatty acid synthetase and citrate-cleavage enzyme (units/mg of protein) were 3-fold higher in the brown adipose tissue of I-strain mice. These results indicate that I-strain mice possess a very active brown adipose tissue. This enhanced capacity of energy dissipation in brown adipose tissue could contribute to the decreased capacity of I-strain mice to store adipose tissue.

High affinity GDP binding sites on brown adipose tissue mitochondria of genetically obese 'fa/fa' rats

The number of high affinity [3H]GDP binding sites in brown adipose tissue mitochondria is normal in obese (fa/fa) rats in contrast to the reduced number of low affinity GDP binding sites. Adrenalectomy corrected the loss of low affinity binding sites in fa/fa rats but had no effect on the number of high affinity sites in either lean or obese rats. Equilibrium dialysis was used to show the presence of both high and low affinity binding sites on the purified 32 kdalton protein.