Obesity: Leptin on the brain

Neurons in the hypothalamus are a primary site for peripheral signals that transmit information concerning energy stores. Many human obesity states are characterized by a resistance to leptin in this region of the brain, but little is known about the neuronal mechanisms involved. Cowley et al. have studied the electrophysiological properties of an important class of leptin-sensitive neurons, proopiomelancocortion neurons, by first making them visible through the targeted expression of green fluorescent protein in transgenic mice. The neurons are depolarized by leptin via two distinct mechanisms that can be understood as part of an integrated mechanism of leptin action in the hypothalamus.

Leptin activates anorexigenic POMC neurons through a neural network in the arcuate nucleus
MICHAEL A. COWLEY, JAMES L. SMART, MARCELO RUBINSTEIN, MARCELO G. CERD�N, SABRINA DIANO, TAMAS L. HORVATH, ROGER D. CONE & MALCOLM J. LOW
Nature 411, 480-484 (24 May 2001)
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24 May 2001 table of contents