Uncoupling protein 3 (UCP3) belongs to the mitochondrial carrier protein superfamily SLC25 and is abundant in brown adipose tissue (BAT), the heart, and muscles. The expression of UCP3 in tissues mainly dependent on fatty acid oxidation suggests its involvement in cellular metabolism and has drawn attention to its possible transport function beyond the transport of protons in the presence of fatty acids. Based on the high homology between UCP2 and UCP3, we hypothesized that UCP3 transports C4 metabolites similar to UCP2. To test this, we measured the transport of substrates against phosphate (32Pi) in proteoliposomes reconstituted with recombinant murine UCP3 (mUCP3). We found that mUCP3 mainly transports aspartate and sulfate but also malate, malonate, oxaloacetate, and succinate. The transport rates calculated from the exchange of 32Pi against extraliposomal aspartate and sulfate were 23.9 ± 5.8 and 17.5 ± 5.1 µmol/min/mg, respectively. Using site-directed mutagenesis, we revealed that mutation of R84 resulted in impaired aspartate/phosphate exchange, demonstrating its critical role in substrate transport. The difference in substrate preference between mUCP2 and mUCP3 may be explained by their different tissue expression patterns and biological functions in these tissues.
Keywords: SLC25 protein family; aspartate; malate; malonate; substrate transport; sulfate.