Abstract
A Novel Path to Obesity
Highlights
The hormone leptin is critical for maintaining metabolic homeostasis
Secreted by adipose tissue after a meal, leptin binds to specific leptin receptors in certain brain regions, the arcuate nucleus (Arc) region of the hypothalamus
Nordstrom et al were interested in glycosylceramide synthase (GCS), an enzyme that controls production of many lipids, including glycosphingolipids and gangliosides
Summary
The hormone leptin is critical for maintaining metabolic homeostasis. Secreted by adipose tissue after a meal, leptin binds to specific leptin receptors in certain brain regions, the arcuate nucleus (Arc) region of the hypothalamus. Loss of leptin, or of leptin receptors, causes obesity due to impaired satiety control and disrupted energy balance. As Viola Nordstrom, Richard Jennemann, Hermann-Josef Grone, and colleagues demonstrate in this week’s PLOS Biology, there are other ways leptin signaling can become disrupted.
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