Vercesi Aníbal Eugênio, Borecký Jiri, Maia Ivan de Godoy, Arruda Paulo, Cuccovia Iolanda Midea, Chaimovich Hernan
Laboratório de Bioenergética, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), 13083-970, Campinas, SP, Brazil.
Annu Rev Plant Biol. 2006;57:383-404. doi: 10.1146/annurev.arplant.57.032905.105335.
Uncoupling proteins (UCPs) are membrane proteins that mediate purine nucleotide-sensitive free fatty acid-activated H(+) flux through the inner mitochondrial membrane. After the discovery of UCP in higher plants in 1995, it was acknowledged that these proteins are widely distributed in eukaryotic organisms. The widespread presence of UCPs in eukaryotes implies that these proteins may have functions other than thermogenesis. In this review, we describe the current knowledge of plant UCPs, including their discovery, biochemical properties, distribution, gene family, gene expression profiles, regulation of gene expression, and evolutionary aspects. Expression analyses and functional studies on the plant UCPs under normal and stressful conditions suggest that UCPs regulate energy metabolism in the cellular responses to stress through regulation of the electrochemical proton potential (Deltamu(H)+) and production of reactive oxygen species.
解偶联蛋白（UCPs）是一类膜蛋白，可介导嘌呤核苷酸敏感的游离脂肪酸激活的H(+)通过线粒体内膜的通量。1995年在高等植物中发现UCP后，人们认识到这些蛋白广泛分布于真核生物中。UCPs在真核生物中的广泛存在意味着这些蛋白可能具有除产热之外的其他功能。在本综述中，我们描述了目前关于植物UCPs的知识，包括它们的发现、生化特性、分布、基因家族、基因表达谱、基因表达调控以及进化方面。对正常和胁迫条件下植物UCPs的表达分析和功能研究表明，UCPs通过调节电化学质子势（Deltamu(H)+）和活性氧的产生来调节细胞对胁迫反应中的能量代谢。
