Decreased Half-Life of Some Mitochondrial Proteins in Skeletal Muscle and Brown Adipose Tissue of Cold-Acclimated Rats

Abstract

Evidence is presented for a decreased half-life of certain mitochondrial proteins in skeletal muscle and brown adipose tissue of cold-acclimated rats living in the cold; nonshivering thermo-genesis is known to occur in both these tissues. No such decrease occurs in liver or kidney, tissues in which nonshivering thermogenesis does not occur. It is concluded that acclimation to cold causes a change in the rate of synthesis and/or in the amount of certain mitochondrial proteins and that this change may be associated with the development of the capacity for nonshivering thermogenesis.