Silencing of OB-RGRP in mouse hypothalamic arcuate nucleus increases leptin receptor signaling and prevents diet-induced obesity.

ABSTRACT: Obesity is a major public health problem and is often associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, and metabolic syndrome. Leptin is the crucial adipostatic hormone that controls food intake and body weight through the activation of specific leptin receptors (OB-R) in the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus (ARC). However, in most obese patients, high circulating levels of leptin fail to bring about weight loss. The prevention of this "leptin resistance" is a major goal for obesity research. We report here a successful prevention of diet-induced obesity (DIO) by silencing a negative regulator of OB-R function, the OB-R gene-related protein (OB-RGRP), whose transcript is genetically linked to the OB-R transcript. We provide in vitro evidence that OB-RGRP controls OB-R function

SUBMITTER: Couturier C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2148314 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature