title: Up-regulation of uterine UCP2 and UCP3 in pregnant rats.
abstract: Pregnancy produces profound changes in hormone dynamics, thermoregulation and energy metabolism. Uncoupling proteins (UCPs) have been identified in a variety of tissues and UCP1 is known to play important roles in energy homeostasis, while the regulation of UCP2 and UCP3 is still unclear. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of the changes during pregnancy on UCP gene expression in the uterus, as well as in brown adipose tissue (BAT), white adipose tissue (WAT), soleus muscle (Muscle), and liver, throughout the estrus and metestrus periods, at early, middle and late stages in pregnancy, and during post-gestational stages. The expression of uterine UCP2 and UCP3 were up-regulated by 3.2- and 1. 5-fold, respectively, during the late stage of pregnancy with an increase of WAT leptin mRNA expression and exogenous administration of leptin resulted in induction of the uterine UCP2 and UCP3 levels. Contrary to uterine UCPs, UCP1 mRNA expression in BAT was down-regulated by 0.5-fold and there were no remarkable changes in WAT or liver UCP2, or Muscle UCP3 expression throughout the periods. These results indicate that UCP gene expressions during pregnancy are regulated tissue-dependently, and up-regulation of uterine UCP2 and UCP3 mRNA may be due to increased leptin levels.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine 1, School of Medicine, Oita Medical University, Hasama, Oita, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Masaki
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yoshimatsu
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chiba
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kurokawa
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sakata
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D001831:Body Temperature; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D004247:DNA; D005230:Fatty Acids, Nonesterified / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D007328:Insulin / Q000378:metabolism; D007473:Ion Channels; D020738:Leptin; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000378:metabolism; D011247:Pregnancy; D011506:Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000494:pharmacology; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D000071246:Uncoupling Protein 2; D000071247:Uncoupling Protein 3; D015854:Up-Regulation; D014599:Uterus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D005230:Fatty Acids, Nonesterified; D007328:Insulin; D007473:Ion Channels; D020738:Leptin; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins; D011506:Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C000604391:Ucp2 protein, rat; C000604394:Ucp3 protein, rat; D000071246:Uncoupling Protein 2; D000071247:Uncoupling Protein 3; D004247:DNA