Biomaterial Database

Immunohistochemical detection of human brown adipose tissue uncoupling protein in an autopsy series. 1993

M L Kortelainen, and G Pelletier, and D Ricquier, and L J Bukowiecki

University of Oulu, Department of Forensic Medicine, Finland.

We used an immunohistochemical method for the inner mitochondrial membrane uncoupling protein (UCP) to examine whether human brown adipose tissue UCP could be detected by an anti-rat UCP antibody. Samples of human brown adipose tissue were obtained at medicolegal autopsies. Fat tissue was excised from around the common carotid arteries and in the subscapular region and from around the thoracic aorta. The subjects were either known alcohol consumers, in which thermogenically active brown adipose tissue (BAT) is often found, or victims of sudden infant death syndrome (SID). UCP was detected in all the cases examined, even when the post-mortem time from death to autopsy reached several days, but the intensity of the immunostaining was variable. Intense staining was observed in three cases with a post-mortem time under 24 hr, but in the SID cases a strong positive staining was seen even with a post-mortem delay of 4 days. These results show that an anti-rat UCP antibody can be used for immunohistochemical detection of UCP in human brown adipose tissue and that it provides a useful method for distinguishing between white and brown fat in paraffin-embedded samples. It can be used to detect UCP in the BAT of obese and diabetic individuals and probably also in the histopathological diagnosis of brown adipose tissue lipoma, known as hibernoma.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007150	Immunohistochemistry	Histochemical localization of immunoreactive substances using labeled antibodies as reagents.	Immunocytochemistry,Immunogold Techniques,Immunogold-Silver Techniques,Immunohistocytochemistry,Immunolabeling Techniques,Immunogold Technics,Immunogold-Silver Technics,Immunolabeling Technics,Immunogold Silver Technics,Immunogold Silver Techniques,Immunogold Technic,Immunogold Technique,Immunogold-Silver Technic,Immunogold-Silver Technique,Immunolabeling Technic,Immunolabeling Technique,Technic, Immunogold,Technic, Immunogold-Silver,Technic, Immunolabeling,Technics, Immunogold,Technics, Immunogold-Silver,Technics, Immunolabeling,Technique, Immunogold,Technique, Immunogold-Silver,Technique, Immunolabeling,Techniques, Immunogold,Techniques, Immunogold-Silver,Techniques, Immunolabeling
D007223	Infant	A child between 1 and 23 months of age.	Infants
D007473	Ion Channels	Gated, ion-selective glycoproteins that traverse membranes. The stimulus for ION CHANNEL GATING can be due to a variety of stimuli such as LIGANDS, a TRANSMEMBRANE POTENTIAL DIFFERENCE, mechanical deformation or through INTRACELLULAR SIGNALING PEPTIDES AND PROTEINS.	Membrane Channels,Ion Channel,Ionic Channel,Ionic Channels,Membrane Channel,Channel, Ion,Channel, Ionic,Channel, Membrane,Channels, Ion,Channels, Ionic,Channels, Membrane
D008297	Male		Males
D008565	Membrane Proteins	Proteins which are found in membranes including cellular and intracellular membranes. They consist of two types, peripheral and integral proteins. They include most membrane-associated enzymes, antigenic proteins, transport proteins, and drug, hormone, and lectin receptors.	Cell Membrane Protein,Cell Membrane Proteins,Cell Surface Protein,Cell Surface Proteins,Integral Membrane Proteins,Membrane-Associated Protein,Surface Protein,Surface Proteins,Integral Membrane Protein,Membrane Protein,Membrane-Associated Proteins,Membrane Associated Protein,Membrane Associated Proteins,Membrane Protein, Cell,Membrane Protein, Integral,Membrane Proteins, Integral,Protein, Cell Membrane,Protein, Cell Surface,Protein, Integral Membrane,Protein, Membrane,Protein, Membrane-Associated,Protein, Surface,Proteins, Cell Membrane,Proteins, Cell Surface,Proteins, Integral Membrane,Proteins, Membrane,Proteins, Membrane-Associated,Proteins, Surface,Surface Protein, Cell
D008854	Microscopy, Electron	Microscopy using an electron beam, instead of light, to visualize the sample, thereby allowing much greater magnification. The interactions of ELECTRONS with specimens are used to provide information about the fine structure of that specimen. In TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY the reactions of the electrons that are transmitted through the specimen are imaged. In SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY an electron beam falls at a non-normal angle on the specimen and the image is derived from the reactions occurring above the plane of the specimen.	Electron Microscopy
D008875	Middle Aged	An adult aged 45 - 64 years.	Middle Age
D011180	Postmortem Changes	Physiological changes that occur in bodies after death.	Adipocere,Algor Mortis,Cruor,Livor Mortis,Change, Postmortem,Changes, Postmortem,Postmortem Change
D002001	Adipose Tissue, Brown	A thermogenic form of adipose tissue composed of BROWN ADIPOCYTES. It is found in newborns of many species including humans, and in hibernating mammals. Brown fat is richly vascularized, innervated, and densely packed with MITOCHONDRIA which can generate heat directly from the stored lipids.	Brown Fat,Hibernating Gland,Brown Adipose Tissue,Fat, Brown,Tissue, Brown Adipose
D002352	Carrier Proteins	Proteins that bind or transport specific substances in the blood, within the cell, or across cell membranes.	Binding Proteins,Carrier Protein,Transport Protein,Transport Proteins,Binding Protein,Protein, Carrier,Proteins, Carrier