Sex Hormone Influence on Nesfatin‐1 Signaling in the Pituitary

Abstract

The stress response is intimately connected to appetite regulation; indeed, many peptides that modulate feeding behavior play a role in stress‐related behaviors. Nesfatin‐1 is a potent anorectic peptide that participates in the hypothalamo‐pituitary‐adrenal (HPA) axis. While nesfatin‐1 signaling in the hypothalamus is well‐studied, nesfatin‐1 signaling in the pituitary has yet to be investigated. Furthermore, the receptor through which nesfatin‐1 acts is currently unknown, and identification of that receptor would be a vital step toward establishing the physiological relevance of nesfatin‐1. Experiments were conducted in dispersed rat pituitaries to identify a candidate receptor and downstream signaling events elicited by treatment with nesfatin‐1. Our preliminary data indicate that the action and expression of nesfatin‐1 is influenced by female sex hormones; therefore, downstream signaling was investigated in both male and cycled female dispersed pituitaries. These studies suggest that nesfatin‐1 signals through an orphan GPCR to physiologically induce activation of the HPA axis in a sex‐dependent manner. Gaining a fuller understanding of how sex hormones influence nesfatin‐1 signaling in the pituitary will provide key insight into sex differences in stress‐related disorders.Support or Funding InformationNational Institute of HealthThis abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.