Abstract
We seek to understand the mechanism for the delayed postnatal switch between glycolytic and oxidative metabolism in preterm newborns. Our previous study [Brauner et al. (Pediatr Res 53: 691-697, 2003)] suggested impaired postnatal recruitment of the gene for mitochondrial uncoupling protein 3 (UCP3) by nutritional lipids in skeletal muscle of neonates delivered before approximately 26 wk of gestation. UCP3 is linked to lipid oxidation and may be involved in the defective development of energy metabolism in skeletal muscles of very preterm newborns. In extension of our previous study, autopsy samples of musculus quadriceps femoris from 40 mostly preterm neonates and 5 fetuses were used for quantification of transcripts for UCP3, GLUT4, and their transcriptional regulator, AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK). The new analysis confirmed the defect in the recruitment of the UCP3 gene expression by lipids in very preterm neonates. It also suggested involvement of AMPK in the control of expression of both metabolic genes, UCP3 and GLUT4, in the skeletal muscle of the newborns. Experiments on adult C57BL/6J mice confirmed the relationships between the transcripts and supported the involvement of AMPK in the control of UCP3 gene expression.
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Abbreviations
- AMPK:
-
AMP-activated protein kinase
- α2-AMPK:
-
α2-subunit of AMP-activated protein kinase
- α2-KO:
-
whole-body knockout of α2-subunit of AMP-activated protein kinase
- EF-1α:
-
elongation factor 1α
- FA:
-
fatty acids
- LCP:
-
long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids
- qRT-PCR:
-
real-time quantitative PCR
- T3:
-
3,5,3′-triiodothyronine
- UCP3:
-
uncoupling protein 3
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The authors thank to Prof. Arnost Kotyk for critical reading of the manuscript, and Jaroslava Bemova, Sona Hornova, and Daniela Salkova for technical assistance.
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Supported by the Internal Grant Agency of the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic (grant NE/6430-5), the European Commission (LSHM-CT-2004-005272 and FOOD-CT-2005-007036) and the Barrande - Czech and French integrated program (2-06-32).
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Brauner, P., Kopecky, P., Flachs, P. et al. Expression of Uncoupling Protein 3 and GLUT4 Gene in Skeletal Muscle of Preterm Newborns: Possible Control by AMP-Activated Protein Kinase. Pediatr Res 60, 569–575 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1203/01.PDR.0000242301.64555.e2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/01.PDR.0000242301.64555.e2
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