The adipocyte: storage depot or node on the energy information superhighway?
Article Abstract:
White and brown adipocytes can identify excessive energy stores and generate a signal that restricts food intake and maintains the 'set point' of body fat. The adipocytes express tumor necrosis factor alpha whose dysregulation correlates to the obese state and hence insulin resistance. The ob ob is the recessive autosomal recessive mutation that causes the obesity in mice, with the ob gene encoding a 4.5 kb mRNA. A human homolog of the rat ob gene is seen in human fat, with the protein encoding a signal sequence that indicates the secreted form of the protein.
Publication Name: Cell
Subject: Biological sciences
ISSN: 0092-8674
Year: 1995
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Obesity and the hypothalamus: novel peptides for new pathways
Article Abstract:
New information on the relationship between obesity and the hypothalamus have been obtained from the identification of novel molecular mediators and pathways in the periphery and the brain. Receptors in the hypothalamus contribute to an increase in circulating leptin levels proportional with nascent obesity. Leptin also signals starvation to the brain while invoking several sets of adaptive responses, including thyroid hormone levels, reproductive capacity and energy conservation.
Publication Name: Cell
Subject: Biological sciences
ISSN: 0092-8674
Year: 1998
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