title: Developmental and tissue-specific involvement of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha in the control of mouse uncoupling protein-3 gene expression.
abstract: Uncoupling protein-3 (UCP3) is a member of the mitochondrial carrier family expressed preferentially in skeletal muscle and heart. It appears to be involved in metabolic handling of fatty acids in a way that minimizes excessive production of reactive oxygen species. Fatty acids are powerful regulators of UCP3 gene transcription. We have found that the role of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha (PPARalpha) on the control of UCP3 gene expression depends on the tissue and developmental stage. In adults, UCP3 mRNA expression is unaltered in skeletal muscle from PPARalpha-null mice both in basal conditions and under the stimulus of starvation. In contrast, UCP3 mRNA is down-regulated in adult heart both in fed and fasted PPARalpha-null mice. This occurs despite the increased levels of free fatty acids caused by fasting in PPARalpha-null mice. In neonates, PPARalpha-null mice show impaired UCP3 mRNA expression in skeletal muscle in response to milk intake, and this is not a result of reduced free fatty acid levels. The murine UCP3 promoter is activated by fatty acids through either PPARalpha or PPARdelta but not by PPARgamma or retinoid X receptor alone. PPARdelta-dependent activation could be a potential compensatory mechanism to ensure appropriate expression of UCP3 gene in adult skeletal muscle in the absence of PPARalpha. However, among transcripts from other PPARalpha and PPARdelta target genes, only those acutely induced by milk intake in wild-type neonates were altered in muscle or heart from PPARalpha-null neonates. Thus, PPARalpha-dependent regulation is required for appropriate gene regulation of UCP3 as part of the subset of fatty-acid-responsive genes in neonatal muscle and heart.
authors.affiliation: Departament de Bioquímica i Biologia Molecular, Universitat de Barcelona, Avda Diagonal 645, E-08028 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Neus
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pedraza
authors.forename: Meritxell
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rosell
authors.forename: Joan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Villarroya
authors.forename: Roser
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Iglesias
authors.forename: Frank J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Gonzalez
authors.forename: Gemma
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Solanes
authors.forename: Francesc
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Villarroya
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002843:Chromatin / Q000378:metabolism; D004435:Eating / Q000502:physiology; D024202:Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000502:physiology; D005230:Fatty Acids, Nonesterified / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D000960:Hypolipidemic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D015151:Immunoblotting; D047468:Immunoprecipitation; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics*; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D008892:Milk / Q000502:physiology; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000378:metabolism; D009206:Myocardium / Q000378:metabolism; D047493:PPAR alpha / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014162:Transfection; D000071247:Uncoupling Protein 3
chemical_list: D002843:Chromatin; D005227:Fatty Acids; D005230:Fatty Acids, Nonesterified; D000960:Hypolipidemic Agents; D007473:Ion Channels; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins; D047493:PPAR alpha; C000604393:Ucp3 protein, mouse; D000071247:Uncoupling Protein 3