Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 8, 2026
A Mouse 5/6th Nephrectomy Model That Induces Experimental Uremic Cardiomyopathy
Published on: November 7, 2017
Acute starvation in C57BL/6J mice increases myocardial UCP2 and UCP3 protein expression levels and decreases
Chun-Ming Wang1, Zakaria A Almsherqi, Craig S McLachlan
1Department of Physiology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Abstract:
Associations between uncoupling protein (UCP) expression and functional changes in myocardial mitochondrial bio-energetics have not been well studied during periods of starvation stress. Our aim was to study the effects of acute starvation, for 24 or 48 h, on combined cardiac mitochondrial function and UCP expression in mice. Isolated heart mitochondria from female mice starved for 48 h compared to that from mice fed revealed a significantly (p < 0.05) decreased adenosine diphosphate-to-oxygen ratio, a significantly increased proton leak and an increased GTP inhibition on palmitic acid-induced state 4 oxygen consumption (p < 0.05). These bio-energetic functional changes were associated with increases in mitochondrial UCP2 and UCP3 protein expression. In conclusion, our findings suggest that increased UCP2 and UCP3 levels may contribute to decreased myocardial mitochondrial bio-energetic function due to starvation.
