Endocrine Abstracts

Leptin acts not only as an anorexigenic hormone but is also involved in the regulation of cell-mediated immunity. However, since the impact of leptin on NK cells is currently elusive, we investigated the body weight-dependent leptin effects on NK cells numbers and function.In a first set of experiments leptin and MADB106 tumor cells were injected intravenously in male lean and diet-induced obese Lewis and F344 rats. In a second set of experiments an i...

Introduction: The melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4R) is the most important hypothalamic expressed G protein coupled receptor in weight regulation. Mutations in the MC4R are the most frequent genetic cause of obesity. Recently an accessory protein of the MC4R (melanocortin receptor accessory protein 2, MRAP2) was discovered that was found to play a role in body weight regulation. MRAP2 deficient mice develop early-onset obesity. The mechanisms of disturbed weight regulation is pote...

The melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4R) represents the major hypothalamic G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) controlling feeding behavior and therefore body weight regulation. MC4R is highly expressed in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) where hormonal and neuroendocrine signals from periphery and arcuate nucleus (ARC) are allocated. MC4R knockout in mice or natural occurring loss-of function variants result in hyperphagia and early-onset obesity. MC4R mutations represent the most f...