Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Review
  • Published:

Uncoupling proteins: gender dependence and their relation to body weight control

International Journal of Obesity volume 28, pages 500–502 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

Members of the uncoupling protein (UCP) family have different purported functions, which can be either directly or indirectly related to the control of body weight. In this sense, most studies on this topic have been carried out using male subjects, although different works with males and females have shown important sex-associated differences in the regulation of these proteins; for instance, sex differences have been shown in the cold-, diet- and overweight-induced expression of brown adipose tissue UCP1 and also in the correlation of muscle UCP3 with overweight. In these kinds of studies, models of obesity such as cafeteria diet feeding and postcafeteria have been very useful. Moreover, sex hormones have been shown to modulate UCP1 expression in brown adipocytes in vitro. All these sex-dependent differences, as well as sex differences in body weight gain under a hypercaloric diet, could be related to the different respective biological functions of males and females, taking into account the fact that the gender effect in future studies on obesity could be of interest.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Palou A, Picó C, Bonet ML, Oliver P . The uncoupling protein, thermogenin. Int J Biochem Cell Biol 1998; 30: 7–11.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Ricquier D, Bouillaud F . The uncoupling protein homologues: UCP1, UCP2, UCP3, StUCP and AtUCP. Biochem J 2000; 345 (Part 2): 161–179.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Boss O, Samec S, Paoloni-Giacobino A, Rossier C, Dulloo A, Seydoux J, Muzzin P, Giacobino JP . Uncoupling protein-3: a new member of the mitochondrial carrier family with tissue-specific expression. FEBS Lett 1997; 408: 39–42.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Gong DW, He Y, Karas M, Reitman M . Uncoupling protein-3 is a mediator of thermogenesis regulated by thyroid hormone, beta3-adrenergic agonists, and leptin. J Biol Chem 1997; 272: 24129–24132.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Vidal-Puig A, Solanes G, Grujic D, Flier JS, Lowell BB . UCP3: an uncoupling protein homologue expressed preferentially and abundantly in skeletal muscle and brown adipose tissue. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 1997; 235: 79–82.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Clapham JC, Arch JR, Chapman H, Haynes A, Lister C, Moore GB, Piercy V, Carter SA, Lehner I, Smith SA, Beeley LJ, Godden RJ, Herrity N, Skehel M, Changani KK, Hockings PD, Reid DG, Squires SM, Hatcher J, Trail B, Latcham J, Rastan S, Harper AJ, Cadenas S, Buckingham JA, Brand MD . Mice overexpressing human uncoupling protein-3 in skeletal muscle are hyperphagic and lean. Nature 2000; 406: 415–418.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Cadenas S, Echtay KS, Harper JA, Jekabsons MB, Buckingham JA, Grau E, Abuin A, Chapman H, Clapham JC, Brand MD . The basal proton conductance of skeletal muscle mitochondria from transgenic mice overexpressing or lacking uncoupling protein-3. J Biol Chem 2002; 277: 2773–2778.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Nedergaard J, Cannon B . Pros and cons for suggested functions. Exp Physiol 2003; 88: 65–84.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Samec S, Seydoux J, Dulloo AG . Role of UCP homologues in skeletal muscles and brown adipose tissue: mediators of thermogenesis or regulators of lipids as fuel substrate? FASEB J 1998; 12: 715–724.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Argyropoulos G, Brown AM, Willi SM, Zhu J, He Y, Reitman M, Gevao SM, Spruill I, Garvey WT . Effects of mutations in the human uncoupling protein 3 gene on the respiratory quotient and fat oxidation in severe obesity and type 2 diabetes. J Clin Invest 1998; 102: 1345–1351.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Himms-Hagen J, Harper ME . Physiological role of UCP3 may be export of fatty acids from mitochondria when fatty acid oxidation predominates: an hypothesis. Exp Biol Med (Maywood) 2001; 226: 78–84.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Quevedo S, Roca P, Picó C, Palou A . Sex-associated differences in cold-induced UCP1 synthesis in rodent brown adipose tissue. Pflugers Arch 1998; 436: 689–695.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Roca P, Rodríguez AM, Oliver P, Bonet ML, Quevedo S, Picó C, Palou A . Brown adipose tissue response to cafeteria diet-feeding involves induction of the UCP2 gene and is impaired in female rats as compared to males. Pflugers Arch 1999; 438: 628–634.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Rodríguez E, Monjo M, Rodríguez-Cuenca S, Pujol E, Amengual B, Roca P, Palou A . Sexual dimorphism in the adrenergic control of rat brown adipose tissue response to overfeeding. Pflugers Arch 2001; 442: 396–403.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Rodríguez AM, Quevedo-Coli S, Roca P, Palou A . Sex-dependent dietary obesity, induction of UCPs, and leptin expression in rat adipose tissues. Obes Res 2001; 9: 579–588.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Rothwell NJ, Stock MJ . The cafeteria diet as a tool for studies of thermogenesis. J Nutr 1988; 118: 925–928.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Herrmann SM, Wang JG, Staessen JA, Kertmen E, Schmidt-Petersen K, Zidek W, Paul M, Brand E . Uncoupling protein 1 and 3 polymorphisms are associated with waist-to-hip ratio. J Mol Med 2003; 81: 327–332.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Gabaldon AM, Florez-Duquet ML, Hamilton JS, McDonald RB, Horwitz BA . Effects of age and gender on brown fat and skeletal muscle metabolic responses to cold in F344 rats. Am J Physiol 1995; 268: R931–941.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Gabaldon AM, McDonald RB, Horwitz BA . Effects of age, gender, and senescence on beta-adrenergic responses of isolated F344 rat brown adipocytes in vitro. Am J Physiol 1998; 274: E726–736.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Rodriguez AM, Roca P, Bonet ML, Pico C, Oliver P, Palou A . Positive correlation of skeletal muscle UCP3 mRNA levels with overweight in male, but not in female, rats. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 2003.

  21. Vidal-Puig AJ, Grujic D, Zhang CY, Hagen T, Boss O, Ido Y, Szczepanik A, Wade J, Mootha V, Cortright R, Muoio DM, Lowell BB . Energy metabolism in uncoupling protein 3 gene knockout mice. J Biol Chem 2000; 275: 16258–16266.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Weigle DS, Levin BE . Defective dietary induction of uncoupling protein 3 in skeletal muscle of obesity-prone rats. Obes Res 2000; 8: 385–391.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Kobori M, Yamamuro T . Effects of gonadectomy and estrogen administration on rat skeletal muscle. Clin Orthop 1989. 306–311.

  24. Eason JM, Schwartz GA, Pavlath GK, English AW . Sexually dimorphic expression of myosin heavy chains in the adult mouse masseter. J Appl Physiol 2000; 89: 251–258.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Rodríguez AM, Monjo M, Roca P, Palou A . Opposite actions of testosterone and progesterone on UCP1 mRNA expression in cultured brown adipocytes. Cell Mol Life Sci 2002; 59: 1714–1723.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Spanish Government (Programa de Promoción a la Investigación Biomédica y en Ciencias de la Salud, Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo, FIS 01/1379) and by the European Commission (COST action 918).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departament de Biologia Fonamental i Ciències de la Salut, Ed. Guillem Colom, Laboratori de Biologia Molecular, Nutrició i Biotecnologia, Universitat de les Illes Balears, Palma de Mallorca, Spain

    A M Rodríguez & A Palou

Authors
  1. A M Rodríguez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. A Palou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to A M Rodríguez.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Rodríguez, A., Palou, A. Uncoupling proteins: gender dependence and their relation to body weight control. Int J Obes 28, 500–502 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0802588

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0802588

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links