Topic: leptin signaling

The hypothalamus is the central regulator of homeostasis with proopiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons in the arcuate nucleus playing a fundamental role. These neurons release neuropeptides that promote energy expenditure and satiety and are a target for leptin, an anorexigenic hormone of adipose tissue origin. POMC neurons communicate with hypothalamic astrocytes via extracellular vesicles (EVs) that contain proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids, and relay information regarding metabolic status. Our hypothesis is that astrocytes affect neuronal function and leptin signaling pathway in a nutrition-dep

In obesity, disruption of gut-brain communication has been associated with overeating, body weight gain, and metabolism disorders. Vagal sensory neurons (VSN) relay nutrient-related signals from the gut to the brain, but how distinct, gut-innervating VSN subtypes are affected by obesity remains unclear. We employed an intersectional genetic approach to investigate obesity-induced functional changes in molecularly defined VSN subtypes that innervate the stomach and small intestine. We demonstrate that overexpression of the suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (Socs3), a crucial regulator of lepti