Non-shivering thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue is mediated by uncoupling protein 1
(UCP1), which provides a carefully regulated proton re-entry pathway across the …

Investigations of biological programs that are controlled by gene transcription have mainly
studied the regulation of transcription factors. However, there are examples in which the …

Adaptive thermogenesis is an important component of energy homeostasis and a metabolic
defense against obesity. We have cloned a novel transcriptional coactivator of nuclear …

Mitochondrial number and function are altered in response to external stimuli in eukaryotes.
While several transcription/replication factors directly regulate mitochondrial genes, the …

Obesity and the related disorders of dyslipidemia and diabetes (components of syndrome X)
have become global health epidemics. Over the past decade, the elucidation of key …

Obesity results when energy intake exceeds energy expenditure. Naturally occurring genetic
mutations, as well as ablative lesions, have shown that the brain regulates both aspects of …

In modern eutherian (placental) mammals, brown adipose tissue (BAT) evolved as a
specialized thermogenic organ that is responsible for adaptive non-shivering thermogenesis …

The gene Ucp2 is a member of a family of genes found in animals and plants, encoding a
protein homologous to the brown fat uncoupling protein Ucp1 (refs 1–3). As Ucp2 is widely …

Evidence for the physiological functions of UCP2 and UCP3 is critically reviewed. They do
not mediate adaptive thermogenesis, but they may be significantly thermogenic under …

The uniqueness of UCP1 (as compared to UCP2/UCP3) is evident from expression analysis
and ablation studies. UCP1 expression is positively correlated with metabolic inefficiency …