Abstract
Uncoupling protein-1 (UCP1) is uniquely expressed in brown adipose tissue (BAT) and of major importance for the tissues thermogenic capacity. This study was undertaken to detect variants in the UCP1 gene by single strand conformational polymorphism (SSCP) analysis and subsequent sequencing, and determine their potential association with obesity. Four variants predicting for amino acid substitutions were detected, of which Arg40Trp (exon 1) and Lys257Arg (exon 5) were rare mutations. In contrast, the allele frequency of a polymorphism in exon 2 predicting for an Ala64Thr substitution was 8.2% in a cohort of 293 obese children and adolescents compared to 4.1% in 134 lean individuals, while the allele frequency of a Met229Leu variant (exon 5) was not markedly different between the obese (10.4%) and lean (12.0%) study groups. Although one of the identified polymorphisms tends to have a higher frequency in obese than in lean subjects, variants of the UCP1 gene do not seem to contribute significantly to the development of early-onset obesity in the German population.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hamann, A., Tafel, J., Büsing, B. et al. Analysis of the uncoupling protein-1 (UCP1) gene in obese and lean subjects: Identification of four amino acid variants. Int J Obes 22, 939–941 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0800725
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0800725
Keywords
This article is cited by
-
Association of uncoupling protein (Ucp) gene polymorphisms with cardiometabolic diseases
Molecular Medicine (2020)
-
The polymorphisms of UCP1 genes associated with fat metabolism, obesity and diabetes
Molecular Biology Reports (2010)
-
The uncoupling protein 1 gene, UCP1, is expressed in mammalian islet cells and associated with acute insulin response to glucose in African American families from the IRAS Family Study
BMC Endocrine Disorders (2007)
-
Thermoregulation: What Role for UCPs in Mammals and Birds?
Bioscience Reports (2005)
-
Uncoupling protein 1 and 3 polymorphisms are associated with waist-to-hip ratio
Journal of Molecular Medicine (2003)