IEPA.d114.s274
In normal pancreatic islets, UCP-2 is upregulated by leptin and is low in leptin-resistant islets of ZDF rats
IEPA.d114.s275
To determine whether UCP-2 does, in fact, have uncoupling activity and, if so, whether such activity would favorably influence the abnormalities in leptin-unresponsive UCP-2-underexpressing islets of diabetic ZDF rats, we transferred the UCP-2 gene to the islets of diabetic ZDF rats and lean (+/+) ZDF control rats
IEPA.d114.s276
We conclude that UCP-2 has uncoupling function when overexpressed in leptin-insensitive islets and that its overexpression corrects the underexpression of the insulin gene and ameliorates glucose-stimulated insulin secretion, possibly by increasing the ATP:ADP ratio