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J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 278, Issue 35, 32497-32500, August 29, 2003
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ek 
**
From the
Department of Membrane Transport
Biophysics, Institute of Physiology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech
Republic, Prague, Czech Republic,
Neuroscience
Research Center, Humboldt-University, Berlin, Germany,
¶Research Institute of Molecular Pharmacology,
Berlin, and ||Experimental Biophysics, Institute of
Biology, Humboldt-University, Berlin
Received for publication, April 9, 2003 , and in revised form, June 6, 2003.
| ABSTRACT |
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| INTRODUCTION |
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) formed
in respiring mitochondria in vivo.
Patch clamp recordings of UCP1 that were undertaken after protein
reconstitution into giant liposomes did not reveal proton but chloride channel
properties (12). The
artificial Cl conductance was by six orders of magnitude
higher than the observed Cl uniport in mitochondria. It does
not necessarily mean that proton channels are lacking but that proton channel
activity may have been masked by the high Cl conductance or
by the low proton concentration. In the absence of direct evidence for proton
channels or carriers, the determination of proton transport rate may serve as
a criterion to distinguish between channel and FA-cycling hypothesis, the
latter being a special type of a carrier mechanism. The transport rate of
105108 s1 would
suggest a conductance by channels, because a carrier usually operates at rates
of 102104 s1. Slow
rates, however, may be due to a channel with low conductance as well
(13). Unfortunately, no clear
picture has emerged so far. The turnover rates observed for UCP1 in
reconstituted liposomes differ by several orders of magnitude. They range from
1000 s1 (7)
via 20 s1 with native UCP1
(11) to 7
s1
(14) and 3
s1 with recombinant UCP1
(15). Differences in the
experimental conditions, i.e. in 
, in concentration and
species of fatty acids used may account for this divergence only
marginally.
To solve the controversy, we have used a well defined system that allows current (I) measurements across planar bilayers with reconstituted UCP1. We have found that the presence of FA is absolutely essential for H+ conductance mediated by UCP1. Hence, we can exclude the hypothesis of Rial et al. (9) considering H+ channel activity in the absence of FA. We have also shown that ATP inhibits the UCP1-mediated H+ conductance. The transport rate observed is compatible both with carrier and channel nature of UCP1.
| EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES |
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Formation of Planar Lipid MembranesPlanar lipid bilayers were made from proteoliposomes that spontaneously form monolayers on the top of a suspension. Two of such monolayers were combined to a bilayer membrane (20, 21) within an aperture (90130 µm in diameter) of a thin polytetrafluoroethylene film (GoodFellow, Cambridge, United Kingdom). Prior to membrane formation, the polytetrafluoroethylene septum separating the two aqueous phases was pretreated by a hexadecane/hexane mixture (1:99). The solutions of UCP1-containing liposomes (proteoliposomes) or liposomes were used in final concentration of 12 mg of lipid/ml buffer. Fatty acids were added, if necessary, to diluted proteoliposomes in ethanol solution and incubated at least 1 h on ice before moving to the measurement chamber. The buffer contained, if not otherwise indicated, 50 mM K2SO4, 50 mM K-MOPS, and 0.6 mM EGTA, pH 6.7 or 7.0, or 50 mM K2SO4, 20 mM Tris (Sigma), 20 mM HEPES (Sigma), and 0.6 mM EGTA, pH 7.7. It was agitated by magnetic bars. Membrane formation was monitored by capacitance measurements (usually 0.89 ± 0.08 microfarad/cm2). The capacitance depended neither on protein nor on fatty acid content.
Conductivity MeasurementsCurrent-voltage (I-V) characteristics were measured by a patch clamp amplifier (GeneClamp 5000, Axon Instruments). For the input into a computer, the signal was converted by an A/D converter (DigiData, Axon Instruments). It was sampled at 40 Hz and filtered with 1 Hz (Lampfit software, Axon Instruments). For conductivity measurements, a triangular voltage source (signal generator, Wavetek) operating at frequencies of 0.040.07 Hz was used. Membrane conductivity G was determined at zero voltage from a linear fit of voltages on the interval between 50 and 50 mV.
The proton conductance was measured in the same setup. Because it cannot be
distinguished from the OH permeability, it is denoted as
GH/OH. The proton
conductance of bilayers can be overshadowed by the conductance of other ions.
To determine the contribution of
GH/OH to the total membrane
conductance, G, the Nernst potential for protons was measured
(22). For this purpose, a pair
of well buffered solutions was chosen having similar osmolarities, ionic
strength, and concentrations of all of the ions with the exception of
H+ and OH. The experimental H+ Nernst
potential at a pH gradient is equal to the shift of the reversal potential,
V0, because there are no gradients of buffer cations and
anions (22,
23). V0
was obtained from current-voltage characteristics that were measured in the
presence of a transmembrane gradient of 0.4 pH units.
pHcis was adjusted to 7.5 using 7.6 mM HEPES on
the cis and pHtrans was adjusted to 7.9 using 7.6
mM Tris on the trans sides of the membrane
(22,
23). The transference number
of H+/OH was found as shown in
Equation 1,
![]() | (Eq. 1) |
N is the theoretical value of Nernst
equilibrium potential (23.8 mV for a pH gradient of 0.4). The final proton
conductivity GH/OH is
calculated as shown in Equation
2,
![]() | (Eq. 2) |
2.6 x 1014 lipids/cm2.
With respect to a lipid protein mass ratio, p, and molecular weights
of 750 and 33,000 Da for the lipid and the protein, respectively, this
transfers into Equation 3,
![]() | (Eq. 3) |
| RESULTS |
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Fatty acids were either immediately introduced into the membrane-forming solution (oleic acid) or were added to the membrane-surrounding buffer after membrane formation (stearic acid). Incorporation of oleic acid into a protein-free planar membrane (up to 20 weight %) led to only a small conductivity increase proportionally to the FA/lipid ratio up to 5 x 108 S/cm2 (Fig. 1, open diamonds). The same concentrations of oleic acid resulted in a pronounced (1030-fold) conductivity increase of bilayers reconstituted with UCP1 (Fig. 1, full circles). Note that UCP1 alone in planar membranes free of FA did not increase the measured conductivity. The FA-mediated conductivity was inhibited by 1.9 mM ATP (Fig. 1, open circles). Reproducible results were achieved only if the nucleotide was allowed to equilibrate with the proteoliposome suspension before the membrane was formed. ATP addition subsequent to UCP1 stimulation by FA revealed a large variability of the inhibitory effect. Most probably, it was due to the circumstances that (i) two lipid phases containing UCP1 (proteoliposomes and planar bilayer) were present at the same time in the chamber; (ii) a large bulk volume (1.5 ml on both sides of the membrane) surrounded the bilayer; and (iii) in sulfate media used to exclude chloride, ATP has a low affinity to UCP1 (8). To circumvent these difficulties, ATP was added directly to the membrane-forming solution.
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Substitution of oleic for stearic acid also resulted in a concentration-dependent conductivity increase. Because of its addition into the aqueous solution, its final membrane concentration was smaller and, hence, the conductivity increase was less pronounced (Fig. 1, inset).
Current-Voltage Characteristics of Membranes Reconstituted with
UCP1The current-voltage characteristics of reconstituted planar
membranes and protein-free membranes did not differ from each other
(Fig. 2). These findings also
support the conclusion that UCP1 requires fatty acids to uncouple. A
significant increase in conductivity was observed with 16% (w/w) oleic acid
corresponding to
45 mol % in the bilayer-forming solution.
Quasi-exponential shape of this current-voltage characteristics yielded
apparent conductances of 16.2 pS at 0 mV and 59 pS at 150 mV. The conductivity
was inhibited by 1.9 mM ATP added to the membrane-forming solution.
The current-voltage characteristics measured after inhibition by ATP were
linear in the interval from 100 to + 100 mV, yielding a conductance of
4.7 pS. Non-linearities observed at voltages of around 150 mV may be
due to electrostriction effects. Correcting for the base-line conductivity,
the ATP-sensitive portion of conductance accounts for 11.5 pS at 0 mV and 54.3
pS at 150 mV. Because 3 x 105 UCP1 molecules were
reconstituted, the single-molecule conductance corresponds to 2 x
1017 or 10 x
1017 S, respectively.
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Oleic Acid-mediated Proton Conductivity of Planar Membranes Reconstituted with UCP1To measure proton conductance avoiding background effects produced by other ions, ionically balanced buffer mixtures were used (26). A transmembrane pH gradient across planar bilayers (0.4 units pH) was produced by adding of 7.6 mM HEPES and 7.6 mM Tris on the cis and trans sides of the membrane, respectively. Current-voltage characteristics of bilayers containing UCP1 and oleic acid (Fig. 3, open circles) and bilayers containing only UCP1 (Fig. 3, full triangles) were measured in the range from 50 to 50 mV. GH/OH was derived from the shift of the reversal potential in the presence of the pH gradient (for details see "Experimental Procedures"). It increased significantly only if both UCP1 and oleic acid were present (Fig. 3).
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UCP1 Turnover NumbersBased on current measurements with
five independent proteoliposome preparations, the final proton conductivity,
GH/OH, and substrate
turnover numbers per protein molecule, r, were calculated according
to Equations 2 and
3
(Fig. 4). The concentration of
oleic acid in lipid was varied from 4.2 to 14.8 weight % (corresponding to
1139.3 mol %). At saturating oleic acid concentration, a turnover
number of 14 ± 5 s1 was estimated
(Fig. 4), which is very close
to values found as Vmax for lauric acid and UCP1
reconstituted in liposomes
(11). The apparent
Km for oleic acid was equal to
8 ± 5% (w/w
oleic acid/lipid). 1.9 mM ATP decreased the turnover rates by at
least one order of magnitude (Fig.
2).
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| DISCUSSION |
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1.3 mol % FA in lipids
(28). Moreover, maximum
stimulation by FA has been reported at 600 nmol FA/mg rat BAT mitochondrial
protein, which corresponds up to
45 mol % (see Fig. 15 in Ref.
29). A physiological relevance
of high FA levels is supported by findings that FA concentrations up to 20
mM (!) occur in BAT on activation of lipolysis
(8). Generally, venous blood FA
concentrations vary widely between 0.25 and 3 mM and FA can be
rapidly transported across the plasma membrane
(30). Due to the high
partition coefficient (>106), >90% of total FA amount is
distributed in the membranes.
UCP1 and other UCPs are structural homologues of other mitochondrial anion
carriers (altogether
46 human genes), such as the ADP/ATP carrier or the
phosphate carrier. A carrier-type character of UCP1 protonophoric activity
seems to be in agreement with its genetic origin. UCP1 has also long been
known to conduct halide anions and a wide variety of monovalent unipolar
anions (4). Hence, it shares
the anion transport activity with other carriers. To explain the protonophoric
activity of UCP1, the FA cycling mechanism was suggested by Skulachev
(10). According to this
hypothesis, UCP1 does not accomplish forward proton transport but rather the
backward transport of fatty acid anions. Forward proton transport is realized
by the spontaneous flip-flop of protonated fatty acids
(31,
32). The flip-flop rate of
stearic and oleic acids is
15 s1 in large
unilamellar vesicles (33) and
>45 s1 in small vesicles
(33). Within reasonable limits
of accuracy, the rates of fatty acid flip-flop and the substrate turnover
rates of UCP1 are similar. Their striking coincidence suggests that fatty acid
flip-flop may be the ratelimiting step in the transport cycle. The view is
supported by the observation that both the substrate turnover rate of UCP1
(8) and the flip-flop rate of
fatty acids (34) rise with
increasing unsaturation and decreasing fatty acid chain length
(8). A counterargument is that
fatty acid molecules outnumber the protein molecules by a factor of 10,000
under our experimental conditions. Consequently, rate limitations due to fatty
acid flip-flop can only apply if the UCP transporter cycles one and the same
fatty acid multiple times. This possibility cannot be ruled out easily because
fatty acid desorption from the membrane surface is extremely slow. For
example, oleic acid desorbs at a rate of 2 s1
(35). Thus, a molecule that
once has been transported by UCP may stay long enough in the vicinity of the
binding center to be transported a second or a third time.
We had to insert 3 x 105 copies of the protein into the
bilayer to augment its conductivity by an order of magnitude. This extreme
number suggests that UCP1 does not operate as a typical transmembrane channel.
However, the distinction of carriers from channels based on the lower turnover
rate of carriers does not work in the case of proton channels. The low proton
transport rate of
14 s1 found in our
experiments does not preclude UCP1 being a channel. The substrate turnover of
UCP1 is comparable to the one of the Na-K-ATPase
(36) or the Ca-ATPase
(37). Glucose transporters, in
contrast, have a substrate turnover that is from 10 to 100-fold faster
(38). A big variety of
turnover rates were found for different proton channels (for review see Ref.
13). It ranges from 726
H+/s for the M2 viral H+ channel to 2.2
x 108 for gramicidin. Thus, the transport rate alone does not
allow to consider the UCP1 to be a carrier or a channel.
In summary, the first functional reconstitution of UCP1 in planar membranes demonstrates that fatty acids are necessary and sufficient for UCP-mediated proton transport. Direct application of transmembrane voltage and precise current measurements allowed us to determine that the maximal substrate turnover per UCP1 molecule is 14 s1. It also showed that voltage dependence is not linear as suggested previously (14).
| FOOTNOTES |
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** To whom correspondence should be addressed: Neuroscience Research Center, Medical Department Charité, Humboldt University, Schumannstr. 20/21, 10117 Berlin, Germany. Tel.: 49-30-450-528141; Fax: 49-30-450-576904; E-mail: elena.pohl{at}charite.de.
1 The abbreviations used are: UCP, uncoupling protein; FA, fatty acid; MOPS,
3-(N-morpholino)propanesulfonic acid; S, siemens. ![]()
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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| REFERENCES |
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