title: Molecular cloning of rat uncoupling protein 2 cDNA and its expression in genetically obese Zucker fatty (fa/fa) rats.
abstract: We isolated rat UCP2 cDNA, which has been proposed to play an important role in mammalian thermogenesis and body weight regulation. The nucleotide sequence of the cDNA revealed that the rat UCP2 protein is composed of 309 amino acid residues, and is 99% and 95% identical to the mouse and human proteins, respectively. The molecular weight of rat UCP2, calculated from the predicted amino acid sequence, was 33,369, and the UCP2 protein of this size was detected when the cDNA was expressed in vitro. Northern blot analysis revealed that the corresponding mRNA is approximately 1.7 kb in size, and is expressed in a variety of rat organs, with predominant expression in the heart, lung and spleen. UCP2 mRNA levels in the heart, liver, muscle and epididymal adipose tissue of Zucker fatty (fa/fa) rats were comparable to those in the lean littermates, while ob mRNA level markedly increased in the epididymal adipose tissue of Zucker (fa/fa) rats.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine I, School of Medicine, Oita Medical University, Japan.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hidaka
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kakuma
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yoshimatsu
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yasunaga
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kurokawa
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sakata
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D006801:Humans; D007473:Ion Channels; D008297:Male; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D051379:Mice; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009765:Obesity / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D009928:Organ Specificity; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D011924:Rats, Zucker; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D000071246:Uncoupling Protein 2
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D007473:Ion Channels; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins; D011506:Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; C000604389:UCP2 protein, human; C000604390:Ucp2 protein, mouse; C000604391:Ucp2 protein, rat; D000071246:Uncoupling Protein 2