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J Nedergaard

Publications and source records attributed to J Nedergaard.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

The uncoupling protein thermogenin during acclimation: indications for pretranslational control.

To analyze the regulation of the content of the uncoupling protein thermogenin in brown adipose tissue, we have selected a physiological transition phase during which to investigate the relationship between the level of mRNA and the level of the ensuing protein product. Mice preacclimated to 28 degrees C were transferred to 4 degrees C. Cold acclimation led to the expected increases in brown fat total protein and RNA content. Two recruited proteins were analyzed: the cytosolic glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase and the mitochondrial uncoupling protein thermogenin. The activity of the dehydrogenase acutely followed the level of the corresponding mRNA, indicating pretranslational control. However, for thermogenin there was a marked time delay between the establishment of the fully recruited level of thermogenin mRNA (after only approximately 4 h of cold exposure) and that of thermogenin itself (after > 3 wk). By reiterative computer simulation, it was investigated whether a model only involving pretranslational regulation could be invoked for either system. For glycerol-phosphate dehydrogenase, a plausible model could be constructed, provided the protein half-life was shorter than approximately 24 h. Despite the long time delay between full thermogenin mRNA recruitment and full thermogenin protein recruitment, a plausible pretranslational control model could also be constructed, provided that the protein half-life was approximately 5 days. This computed value was in good agreement with the half-life obtained from independent thermogenin half-life studies. It is implied that pretranslational control may suffice to explain the regulation of thermogenin content in brown adipose tissue during a warm-to-cold transition period.

Acclimatization↗
PubMed1993

Attenuation of Gs alpha coupling efficiency in brown-adipose-tissue plasma membranes from cold-acclimated hamsters.

In order to localize site(s) of beta-adrenergic desensitization found in brown adipocytes from cold-acclimated animals, total brown-adipose-tissue homogenates (postnuclear supernatant) were obtained from control or cold-acclimated hamsters and were fractionated on discontinuous sucrose gradients. A low-density band (cytosolic proteins) and a high-density band (mitochondria) were obtained; in the middle fractions only low levels of protein were recovered. However, these fractions displayed a high level of specific [3H]ouabain binding, indicating that they represented fractions enriched in plasma membranes. The level of [3H]ouabain binding was significantly higher in plasma membranes from cold-acclimated animals, indicating an increased density of Na,K-ATPase units. The maximal activity of adenylate cyclase, as estimated with forskolin, was not changed by cold acclimation. However, the levels of cyclase activity observed after Gs-protein-mediated activation (with guanosine 5'-[gamma-thio]triphosphate, isoprenaline, both of these, or fluoride) were decreased, indicating a decreased coupling efficiency. Notably, a significant decrease was observed in the functional activity of the Gs protein, as directly measured by estimation of the ability of cholate extracts of brown-fat plasma membranes to reconstitute Gs-protein-mediated stimulation of adenylate cyclase in cyc- membranes. Further, a functionally significant decrease (to 72%) was observed in the ratio between the amount of functional Gs proteins and adenylate cyclase units. The total content of Gs alpha protein was decreased to the same extent as the coupling efficiency of the membranes, indicating that a lower content of functionally equivalent Gs alpha molecules could explain the decreased coupling. It could therefore be concluded that a decrease in Gs-protein-mediated coupling efficiency, owing to a decrease in the amount of Gs alpha, is at least one site of beta-adrenergic desensitization in cold-acclimated animals. This may, at least in part, explain that desensitization takes place despite the fact that the beta 3-adrenoceptor itself apparently lacks some of the sites known to be involved in the desensitization process in other beta-adrenergic receptors.

Acclimatization↗
PubMed1993

Reversible blockade of the calcium-activated nonselective cation channel in brown fat cells by the sulfhydryl reagents mercury and thimerosal.

We have used patch-clamp techniques to study the effect of the sulfhydryl group oxidizing agents mercury and thimerosal on calcium-activated nonselective cation channels from brown adipose tissue. 100 nmol/l mercury and 50 mumol/l thimerosal induced a complete block. Blockade could be reversed by reduction of the mercaptide by dithiotreitol (DTT). Mercury was found to be the most potent blocker (IC50-value 21 x 10(-9) mol/l), whereas thimerosal (IC50-value 1.5 x 10(-6) mol/l) was as effective as 3',5-dichlorodiphenylamine-2-carboxylic acid (DCDPC). The DCDPC effect, however, could not be reversed by DTT, indicating different blocking mechanisms. It is concluded that SH-groups are involved in gating of the calcium-activated nonselective channel.

Adipose Tissue, Brown↗
PubMed1993

Physiological desensitization of beta 3-adrenergic responses in brown fat cells: involvement of a postreceptor process.

To investigate a possible physiological desensitization process for beta 3-adrenergic responses, the effect of cold acclimation of hamsters on adrenergically stimulated oxygen consumption of isolated brown fat cells was investigated. Cells were prepared from control and from cold-acclimated hamsters. In agreement with earlier findings, cells isolated from cold-acclimated hamsters responded to norepinephrine addition with a decreased sensitivity (approximately 10 times higher 50% effective concentration) and a decreased maximal rate of oxygen consumption compared with cells from control hamsters. When cells were stimulated with the general beta-adrenergic agonist isoprenaline or with the beta 3-selective agonists BRL-37344 or CGP-12177, a similarly desensitized response was observed, demonstrating that it was indeed a beta 3-adrenergic response that was functionally desensitized. However, when the mitochondria within the cells were directly stimulated with exogenous free fatty acids (palmitate or octanoate), no difference between cells from control and cold-acclimated animals was seen, indicating that a mediatory step must be desensitized. When the cells were stimulated with forskolin (to activate adenylyl cyclase) or with 8-bromoadenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate, the desensitized response was still observed. At post-adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate levels, a desensitization was not evident. Cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase activity was increased in cells from cold-acclimated animals. It is therefore suggested that this increased activity of phosphodiesterase could be (at least partly) responsible for the physiologically induced desensitized responses observed here.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

3',5'-Cyclic-AMP Phosphodiesterases↗
PubMed1992

Induction and degradation of the uncoupling protein thermogenin in brown adipocytes in vitro and in vivo. Evidence for a rapidly degradable pool.

The induction and degradation of the brown-fat-specific uncoupling protein thermogenin in brown fat cell cultures was investigated. Cultures were initiated with undifferentiated precursor cells from young mice and the amount of thermogenin was determined by immunoblotting. High levels of thermogenin could be induced by noradrenaline treatment in cells grown for more than 5 days in culture, and in such cell cultures continuously stimulated with noradrenaline, the thermogenin level continued to increase for at least a further 5 days. In cell cultures stimulated for only 24 h, the induced thermogenin was subsequently specifically and rapidly degraded, with a half-life of 20 h. As the half-life was prolonged by cycloheximide treatment, the degradation was apparently due to the induction of specific proteins after cessation of adrenergic stimulation. In cell cultures continuously stimulated with noradrenaline for 5 days, the induced thermogenin was degraded much more slowly after noradrenaline removal, with a half-life of 70 h. This half-life was unchanged by cycloheximide treatment, and the degradation after cycloheximide was in parallel with the degradation of protein in general, and was therefore non-specific. The prolongation of the half-life of thermogenin after the chronic treatment may be related to mitochondrial incorporation of thermogenin and consequent stabilization of the protein. The half-life of thermogenin in an in vivo situation of similar experimental design (the reacclimation of mice to warm after 5 days in the cold), was also long (about 7 days), and the loss was also non-specific, as it paralleled the loss of protein. Thus different molecular events are involved in thermogenin degradation when the protein is found in different functional pools.

Adaptation, Physiological↗
PubMed1992

Beta-adrenergic, cAMP-mediated stimulation of proliferation of brown fat cells in primary culture. Mediation via beta 1 but not via beta 3 adrenoceptors.

The ability of adrenergic stimulation to affect the rate of DNA synthesis in mouse brown adipocyte precursor cells proliferating in primary culture was investigated. Addition of 1 microM norepinephrine to the cells at day 4 in culture (proliferating cells) significantly increased the rate of DNA synthesis, whereas no significant effect was seen at day 9 (confluent cells). The effect of norepinephrine could be mimicked by forskolin, cholera toxin, and by cAMP analogues. Specific [3H]thymidine incorporation (per unit of DNA) was reduced by norepinephrine stimulation, indicating saturation of the salvage pathway for dTTP synthesis already in unstimulated cells and implying a beta-adrenergic stimulation of dTTP synthesis. Pharmacological characterization of this effect indicated it was mediated by beta 1 receptors, with alpha 2 receptors exerting an opposing effect. Notably, the stimulation of DNA synthesis was not observed with the beta 3-specific agonist CGP-12177. In contrast, both norepinephrine and CGP-12177 were able to induce the expression of the uncoupling protein thermogenin in the confluent cultured cells. This coincided with a shift in the cAMP-elevating potential of CGP-12177, from being antagonistic to norepinephrine stimulation in proliferating cells to being itself a full agonist in confluent cells, implying occurrence of coupled beta 3 receptors as part of the differentiation process. It was concluded that brown fat precursor cells respond directly to norepinephrine stimulation with an increased DNA synthesis, and that this response is mediated via the classical beta 1 receptors. This probably represents the cellular basis for the hyperplasia observed in the tissue in physiologically recruited states.

8-Bromo Cyclic Adenosine Monophosphate↗
PubMed1992

Regulation of expression of the lipoprotein lipase gene in brown adipose tissue.

The regulation of lipoprotein lipase gene expression in brown adipose tissue was studied. Rats were preacclimated to 21 degrees C. Exposure to cold (4 degrees C) resulted in a rapid increase in the level of lipoprotein lipase mRNA in the tissue. The level peaked (expressed per microgram total RNA) after approximately 8 h and then slowly declined. The increased lipoprotein lipase mRNA level was not due to an increased stability of the mRNA, but, in a transition event from a high to a low expression of the lipoprotein lipase gene, a transcription-dependent process was recruited that accelerated the breakdown of lipoprotein lipase mRNA. Norepinephrine injections increased lipoprotein lipase mRNA levels in the tissue; this effect was mediated via a beta-adrenergic receptor. The effect of cold could be mimicked by norepinephrine injections, and these two effects were not additive, indicating that the cold effect was mediated by norepinephrine. The lipoprotein lipase mRNA level was also increased by insulin injections (into fasted animals); thus an increase in lipoprotein lipase gene expression in brown adipose tissue may be induced via two different stimuli, which, intracellularly, would be mediated via different signaling systems. In all investigated conditions, the changes in lipoprotein lipase mRNA levels observed here were parallelled by alterations in lipoprotein lipase activity reported earlier from this laboratory. It was therefore concluded that, under the conditions studied, lipoprotein lipase activity in brown adipose tissue was primarily regulated at the transcriptional level.

Adipose Tissue, Brown↗
PubMed1992

Increased alpha 1-adrenoceptor density in brown adipose tissue indicates recruitment drive in hypothyroid rats.

The effects of hypothyroidism on whole body thermogenesis, brown adipose tissue recruitment state, and alpha 1-adrenergic receptor density were investigated. Treatment of rats with methimazole for 4-5 wk led, as expected, to reduction of growth and resting metabolic rate. The thermogenic response to norepinephrine injection was practically abolished. Generally, only small effects of hypothyroidism on brown adipose tissue were observed: total protein content, mitochondrial GDP binding capacity, and total content of the uncoupling protein thermogenin were not altered. The density of beta-adrenergic receptors (estimated with [3H]CGP-12177 as a ligand) was also unchanged. However, the density of alpha 1-adrenergic receptors (estimated with [3H]prazosin) was markedly increased; in other physiological conditions, such an increase has been associated with an increased degree of recruitment of the tissue. These data indicate that brown adipose tissue in the subthermoneutral hypothyroid animal, probably due to homeostatic mechanisms, is exposed to an increased sympathetic stimulation, leading to an increased alpha 1-adrenoceptor density. However, other features of recruitment are only poorly induced, probably due to attenuation of the beta-adrenergic signaling mechanism. The increased alpha 1-adrenergic receptor density may be responsible for certain altered features of brown adipose tissue in hypothyroid animals, such as peroxisomal recruitment and perhaps also for maintenance of the thermogenin content. The results also indicate that the increased alpha 1-adrenergic density generally seen in recruitment would not result from chronic beta-adrenergic stimulation of the tissue but may be controlled via another regulatory pathway, e.g., via the alpha 1-adrenergic pathway itself.

Adipose Tissue, Brown↗
PubMed1990

Alpha- and beta-adrenergic induction of the expression of the uncoupling protein thermogenin in brown adipocytes differentiated in culture.

In order to examine the control of expression of the gene coding for the brown fat specific uncoupling protein thermogenin (UCP), brown fat cells isolated as undifferentiated precursors from the interscapular brown adipose tissue of young mice were grown in culture. In these cells, it was possible by norepinephrine (NE) addition to induce specifically the expression of the UCP gene. The effect of NE was due to activation of transcription. The ability to express the UCP gene was maximal in cells around confluence; cell cultures younger or older than this showed a lower response. The response to NE showed a sharp optimum around 0.1 microM and was linear with time over the 4-h period studied. The presence of insulin or thyroid hormones facilitated the NE response. Pharmacological analysis of the adrenergic response indicated that UCP gene expression could be induced both via beta-receptors (probably beta 3) and via alpha 1-receptors; these effects were synergistic. It was concluded that it is possible to promote these precursor cells to advance to such a state of differentiation that they can demonstrate the selective feature of the brown fat cell, i.e. the ability to express UCP. The expression of the UCP gene is regulated via interacting adrenergic mechanisms.

8-Bromo Cyclic Adenosine Monophosphate↗
PubMed1990

Norepinephrine-induced synthesis of the uncoupling protein thermogenin (UCP) and its mitochondrial targeting in brown adipocytes differentiated in culture.

Synthesis of the brown adipocyte-specific mitochondrial uncoupling protein thermogenin (UCP) is demonstrated here in brown adipocytes differentiated in culture from precursor cells. By immunoblotting, no UCP was detectable in untreated multilocular adipocytes. The synthesis of UCP was stimulated by norepinephrine at physiological concentrations and was observable already after 2 h. It was evident from immunoelectron microscopy that the newly synthesised protein was targeted to the mitochondrial inner membrane, demonstrating the functional competence of these cultured cells.

Adipose Tissue, Brown↗
PubMed1990

Alpha 1-adrenergic stimulation of Cl- efflux in isolated brown adipocytes.

Unidirectional 36Cl- efflux from preloaded isolated brown adipocytes was studied. A norepinephrine-stimulated 36Cl- efflux pathway was found which approximately doubled the rate of 36Cl- efflux from the cells. The response to norepinephrine was fully inhibited by the alpha 1-adrenergic antagonist prazosin, but was unaffected by the beta-adrenergic antagonist propranolol, showing that norepinephrine stimulated the 36Cl- efflux pathway via the alpha 1-adrenoceptor. The stimulation of 36Cl- efflux could not be mimicked by the Ca2+ ionophore A23187, indicating that the effect was not mediated by elevation of the intracellular Ca2+ level. It is concluded that brown fat cells possess a specific mechanism for alpha 1-adrenergic stimulation of Cl- efflux. The possibility is discussed that this Cl- efflux pathway could be the basis for the early alpha-adrenergic depolarization seen in brown fat cells.

Adipose Tissue, Brown↗
PubMed1990

Mammalian hibernation.

In mammalian hibernation, the body temperature approaches that of the surroundings, allowing large savings in energy costs of basal metabolism and eliminating the need for heat production to compensate for heat loss. During entry into hibernation, heat production ceases while the body temperature set-point gradually decreases during slow-wave sleep. In the hibernating phase, the animal copes with problems concerning the maintenance of ion gradients, possible membrane phase transitions and the risk of ventricular fibrillation. In the arousal phase, the main part of the heat and practically all the necessary substrate comes from brown adipose tissue. The hibernation season is preceded by a preparatory phase. It may be concluded that hibernation is a practical, and perhaps even enviable, solution to a mammalian problem.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Cold acclimation induces desensitization to adenosine in brown fat cells without changing receptor binding.

The ability of brown fat cells isolated from control and cold-acclimated hamsters to respond to adenosine was investigated. In measurements of the rate of oxygen consumption, it was observed that cells from control hamsters responded as expected to addition of adenosine deaminase, 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine (IBMX), or 2-chloroadenosine (i.e., norepinephrine dose-response curves were shifted to left in presence of adenosine deaminase or IBMX and to right with 2-chloroadenosine). However, brown fat cells isolated from cold-acclimated hamsters, under identical conditions, showed almost complete absence of adenosine control. Thus acclimation to cold induced a desensitization to adenosine by physiological means. To evaluate the molecular mechanism underlying desensitization to adenosine, [3H]phenylisopropyladenosine ([3H]PIA) binding to brown fat membranes from control and cold-acclimated hamsters was investigated. [3H]PIA bound with similar high affinity (KD approximately 5 nM) and saturability (Bmax approximately 15 fmol/mg protein) in both membrane preparations, demonstrating that desensitization to adenosine was not due to changes in adenosine receptor number or receptor affinity for adenosine. Furthermore, GTP induced a reduction in [3H]PIA affinity in brown fat membranes from both control and cold-acclimated hamsters, indicating that desensitization was probably not due to an uncoupling between the receptor and Gi protein. It was therefore concluded that the adenosine desensitization process may be located at the Gi protein-adenylate cyclase interaction.

1-Methyl-3-isobutylxanthine↗
PubMed1989

NADH-sensitive propionyl-CoA hydrolase in brown-adipose-tissue mitochondria of the rat.

Acyl-CoA hydrolase activity was studied in brown adipose tissue (BAT) mitochondria of rats. The substrate specificity was investigated: total hydrolase activity showed two activity peaks, one sharp peak for propionyl-CoA and a broad peak at medium- to long-chain acyl-CoAs. The propionyl-CoA activity fully comigrated with a mitochondrial matrix marker enzyme in fractionation studies of tissue and mitochondria. The hydrolytic activity against short-chain acyl-CoAs was inhibited by NADH, and analyses of the substrate specificity of the hydrolases in the presence and absence of NADH allowed for the delineation of two distinct acyl-CoA hydrolases. These hydrolases could also be separated by gel filtration. It was concluded that rat BAT mitochondria possess at least two matrix acyl-CoA hydrolases: one broad-spectrum acyl-CoA hydrolase with an apparent native molecular weight of less than 100,000, and a specific propionyl-CoA hydrolase with an apparent native molecular weight at least 240,000; this hydrolase is regulated by NADH. It is suggested that the function of the propionyl-CoA hydrolase is to ensure that the level of propionyl-CoA in the mitochondria is not detrimentally increased.

Adipose Tissue, Brown↗
PubMed1989

Alpha 1- and beta-adrenergic regulation of intracellular Ca2+ levels in brown adipocytes.

In order to monitor changes in cytosolic Ca2+ levels, brown-fat cells were incubated with the fluorescent Ca2+-indicator fura-2 and the fluorescence intensity ratio followed. The addition of norepinephrine led to a rapid and persistent increase in the cytosolic Ca2+ level, which was dose-dependent with a maximal effect at about 1 microM. The response was diminished in the absence of extracellular Ca2+ and was inhibited more efficiently by phentolamine and prazosin than by propranolol or yohimbine, indicating alpha 1-adrenergic mediation. Accordingly, selective alpha 1-adrenergic stimulation also increased the cytosolic Ca2+ level. However, selective beta-adrenergic stimulation, as well as the adenylate cyclase activator forskolin, were also able to increase the cytosolic Ca2+ level in these cells to a certain extent. It was concluded that the major part of the increase in cytosolic Ca2+ was mediated, as in other cell types, via alpha 1-adrenergic receptors, but that Ca2+ levels were also positively modulated by a cAMP-mediated process. These observations are discussed in relation to known alpha 1/beta synergisms in brown adipose tissue.

Adipose Tissue, Brown↗
PubMed1989

Postnatal recruitment of brown adipose tissue is induced by the cold stress experienced by the pups. An analysis of mRNA levels for thermogenin and lipoprotein lipase.

In order to investigate the postnatal recruitment process, gene expression in the brown adipose tissue of rat pups was followed during the first 20 h of life. In normal pups, the level of mRNA coding for the uncoupling protein thermogenin increased markedly but gradually within the first 24 h. Lipoprotein lipase and actin mRNA levels were relatively low and remained constant. In pups exposed to thermoneutral temperature (35 degrees C) for the first 12 h after birth, no increase in thermogenin mRNA or lipoprotein lipase mRNA was observed, whereas in pups exposed to 28 degrees C a clear increase in both thermogenin and lipoprotein lipase mRNA levels was found. Actin mRNA levels were not affected by the environmental temperature under these circumstances. It was concluded that the postnatal recruitment in brown adipose tissue is a consequence of the cold stress experienced by the newborn pups. Thus, postnatal recruitment is not ontogenically predetermined.

Actins↗
PubMed1989

DNA synthesis in mouse brown adipose tissue is under beta-adrenergic control.

The rate of DNA synthesis in mouse brown adipose tissue was followed with injections of [3H]thymidine. Cold exposure led to a large increase in the rate of [3H]thymidine incorporation, reaching a maximum after 8 days, whereafter the activity abruptly ceased. A series of norepinephrine injections was in itself able to increase [3H]thymidine incorporation. When norepinephrine was injected in combination with the alpha-adrenergic antagonist phentolamine or with the beta-adrenergic antagonist propranolol, the stimulation was fully blocked by propranolol. It is suggested that stimulation of DNA synthesis in brown adipose tissue is a beta-adrenergically mediated process and that the tissue is an interesting model for studies of physiological control of DNA synthesis.

Adipose Tissue, Brown↗