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Updated: Jun 19, 2026

Indirect Immunofluorescence on Frozen Sections of Mouse Mammary Gland
Published on: December 1, 2015
Saturated fatty acids stimulate and insulin suppresses BMCP1 expression in bovine mammary epithelial cells
Tomo Yonezawa1, Satoshi Haga, Yosuke Kobayashi
1Department of Animal Physiology, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University, Amamiyamachi, Sendai 981-8555, Japan. yonet2301@yahoo.co.jp
Abstract:
Brain-specific uncoupling proteins such as uncoupling protein 4 (UCP4) and brain mitochondrial carrier protein 1 (BMCP1; also known as UCP5) were identified by computational analysis for expressed sequence tag and hybridization screening. Both were detected at the mRNA level by RT-PCR in cloned bovine mammary epithelial cells (bMEC) and lactating bovine mammary glands. Physiological concentrations of saturated fatty acids (stearate and palmitate), but not unsaturated fatty acids (oleate and linoleate), induced up-regulation of BMCP1 mRNA in bMEC. Treatment with insulin induced down-regulation of UCP4 and BMCP1. These results suggest that UCP4 and BMCP1 are regulated by insulin and/or fatty acids in mammary epithelial cells and lactating mammary glands, and thereby may play an important role in lipid and energy metabolism.
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