{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,8]],"date-time":"2026-10-08T02:51:56Z","timestamp":1791427916343,"version":"4.3.3"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2019,8,17]],"date-time":"2019-08-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1566000000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"University of Sannio","award":["(Fondi FRA 2016)"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["(Fondi FRA 2016)"]}]},{"name":"Department of Biology University of Naples Federico II","award":["Riceerca di base"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Riceerca di base"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Cells"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The role of uncoupling protein-3 (UCP3) in energy and lipid metabolism was investigated. Male wild-type (WT) and UCP3-null (KO) mice that were housed at thermoneutrality (30 \u00b0C) were used as the animal model. In KO mice, the ability of skeletal muscle mitochondria to oxidize fatty acids (but not pyruvate or succinate) was reduced. At whole animal level, adult KO mice presented blunted resting metabolic rates, energy expenditure, food intake, and the use of lipids as metabolic substrates. When WT and KO mice were fed with a standard\/low-fat diet for 80 days, since weaning, they showed similar weight gain and body composition. Interestingly, KO mice showed lower fat accumulation in visceral adipose tissue and higher ectopic fat accumulation in liver and skeletal muscle. When fed with a high-fat diet for 80 days, since weaning, KO mice showed enhanced energy efficiency and an increased lipid gain (thus leading to a change in body composition between the two genotypes). We conclude that UCP3 plays a role in energy and lipid homeostasis and in preserving lean tissues by lipotoxicity, in mice that were housed at thermoneutrality.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/cells8080916","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,8,19]],"date-time":"2019-08-19T06:10:14Z","timestamp":1566195014000},"page":"916","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":12,"title":["Absence of Uncoupling Protein-3 at Thermoneutrality Impacts Lipid Handling and Energy Homeostasis in Mice"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"8","author":[{"given":"Assunta","family":"Lombardi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, University of Naples \u201cFederico II\u201d, 80138 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rosa Anna","family":"Busiello","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, University of Naples \u201cFederico II\u201d, 80138 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4665-4547","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rita","family":"De Matteis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino \u201cCarlo Bo\u201d, 61029 Urbino, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4059-8030","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lill\u00e0","family":"Lionetti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry and Biology, \u201cAdolfo Zambelli\u201d University of Salerno, 84084 Salerno, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sabrina","family":"Savarese","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, University of Naples \u201cFederico II\u201d, 80138 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Maria","family":"Moreno","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Science and Technology, University of Sannio, 82100 Benevento, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alessandra","family":"Gentile","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, University of Naples \u201cFederico II\u201d, 80138 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Elena","family":"Silvestri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Science and Technology, University of Sannio, 82100 Benevento, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1571-0980","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rosalba","family":"Senese","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Environmental, Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies, University of Campania \u201cLuigi Vanvitelli\u201d, 81100 Caserta, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Pieter","family":"de Lange","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Environmental, Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies, University of Campania \u201cLuigi Vanvitelli\u201d, 81100 Caserta, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Federica","family":"Cioffi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Science and Technology, University of Sannio, 82100 Benevento, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Antonia","family":"Lanni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Environmental, Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies, University of Campania \u201cLuigi Vanvitelli\u201d, 81100 Caserta, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fernando","family":"Goglia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Science and Technology, University of Sannio, 82100 Benevento, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2019,8,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"39","DOI":"10.1016\/S0014-5793(97)00384-0","article-title":"Uncoupling protein-3: A new member of the mitochondrial carrier family with tissue-specific expression","volume":"408","author":"Boss","year":"1997","journal-title":"FEBS Lett."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"72","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bbabio.2015.10.011","article-title":"The expression of UCP3 directly correlates to UCP1 abundance in brown adipose tissue","volume":"1857","author":"Hilse","year":"2016","journal-title":"Biochim. 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