Leanness of Lou/C rats does not require higher thermogenic capacity of brown adipose tissue.

Lou/C rats, an inbred strain of Wistar origin, remain lean throughout life and therefore represent a remarkable model of obesity resistance. To date, the exact mechanisms responsible for the leanness of Lou/C rats remain unknown. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the leanness of Lou/C rats relies on increased thermogenic capacities in brown adipose tissue (BAT).

Functional argument for the existence of an avian nitric oxide synthase in muscle mitochondria: effect of cold acclimation.

We report the first evidence of a mitochondrial NO synthase (mtNOS) in bird skeletal muscle. In vitro, mtNOS activity stimulated by L-arginine reduced intermyofibrillar mitochondrial oxygen uptake and ATP synthesis rates, stimulated endogenous H(2)O(2) generation, but had no effect on oxidative phosphorylation efficiency. Arginine-induced effects were fully reversed by L-NAME, a known NOS inhibitor.

Cold-acclimation-induced non-shivering thermogenesis in birds is associated with upregulation of avian UCP but not with innate uncoupling or altered ATP efficiency.

Despite their lack of brown adipose tissue, some bird species develop regulatory non-shivering thermogenesis (NST) of skeletal muscle origin in response to cold acclimation. Mechanisms involved in avian NST are still unclear but may involve reduced energetic coupling in skeletal muscle mitochondria through the expression of an avian homologue of mammalian uncoupling proteins. The aim of this work was to investigate whether the expression of avian uncoupling protein (avUCP) would correlate with the capacity for cold-induced muscle NST.

Up-regulation of avian uncoupling protein in cold-acclimated and hyperthyroid ducklings prevents reactive oxygen species production by skeletal muscle mitochondria.

Background: Although identified in several bird species, the biological role of the avian homolog of mammalian uncoupling proteins (avUCP) remains extensively debated. In the present study, the functional properties of isolated mitochondria were examined in physiological or pharmacological situations that induce large changes in avUCP expression in duckling skeletal muscle.

Results: The abundance of avUCP mRNA, as detected by RT-PCR in gastrocnemius muscle but not in the liver, was markedly increased by cold acclimation (CA) or pharmacological hyperthyroidism but was down-regulated by hypothyroidism.

Oxygen recovery up-regulates avian UCP and ANT in newly hatched ducklings.

At hatching, breaking eggshell induces a surge in oxygen availability that is likely to generate oxidative stress in newborn chicks. To investigate the involvement of potential adaptive antioxidant mechanisms, we explored some markers of oxidative stress and the regulation of muscle avian uncoupling protein (avUCP) and adenine nucleotide translocase (ANT) in ducklings in the peri-hatching period. When compared with pre-hatching levels, the amount of peroxidized lipids were increased 24 h after external pipping in gastrocnemius muscle (+37%) and heart (+39%) as well as the muscle avUCP mRNA expression (+60%) but the susceptibility of red blood cells to free radicals (a functional test of oxidative status) was not affected.

Reptilian uncoupling protein: functionality and expression in sub-zero temperatures.

Here we report the partial nucleotide sequence of a reptilian uncoupling protein (repUCP) gene from the European common lizard (Lacerta vivipara). Overlapping sequence analysis reveals that the protein shows 55%, 72% and 77% sequence homology with rat UCP1, UCP2 and UCP3, respectively, and 73% with bird and fish UCPs. RepUCP gene expression was ubiquitously detected in 4 degrees C cold-acclimated lizard tissues and upregulated in muscle tissues by a 20 h exposure to sub-zero temperatures in a supercooling state or after thawing.

Mitochondrial adaptations to steatohepatitis induced by a methionine- and choline-deficient diet.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become common liver disease in Western countries. There is accumulating evidence that mitochondria play a key role in NAFLD. Nevertheless, the mitochondrial consequences of steatohepatitis are still unknown.