appetite control tagged posts

Brain Cells that Aid Appetite Control Identified

Pharmacological and genetic ablation of NG2-glia, but not microglia, leads to obesity •NG2-glial ablation causes LepR processes in the median eminence to degenerate •Arcuate nucleus LepR neurons lose responsiveness to leptin after NG2-glia ablation •X-irradiation aimed at the median eminence is sufficient for weight gain induction

Pharmacological and genetic ablation of NG2-glia, but not microglia, leads to obesity •NG2-glial ablation causes LepR processes in the median eminence to degenerate •Arcuate nucleus LepR neurons lose responsiveness to leptin after NG2-glia ablation •X-irradiation aimed at the median eminence is sufficient for weight gain induction

Discovery opens door to development of new drugs to control weight gain and obesity. 4 years ago, Kokoeva and her team set out to explore which brain cells might play a role in the process of leptin sensing and weight gain. The answer, it turns out, lies in the median eminence, a brain structure at the base of the hypothalamus.

The McGill team has now discovered that without NG2-glia cells in place in the median eminence, the leptin receptors in the brain n...

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