The hypothalamus is critical for feeding and body weight regulation. Prevailing studies focus on hypothalamic neurons that are defined by selectively expressing transcription factors or neuropeptides including those expressing proopiomelanocortin (POMC) and agouti-related peptides (AgRP). The Cre expression driven by the pancreas-duodenum homeobox 1 promoter is abundant in several hypothalamic ...

The agouti-related protein (AGRP) is an endogenous antagonist of the melanocortin receptors MC3R and MC4R found in the hypothalamus and exhibits potent orexigenic (appetite-stimulating) activity. The cysteine-rich C-terminal domain of this protein, corresponding to AGRP(87-132), contains five disulfide bonds and exhibits receptor binding affinity and antagonism equivalent to that of the full-le...

Food deprivation (FD) increases hypothalamic neuropeptide Y (NPY) and agouti-related protein (AGRP) mRNA levels and decreases proopiomelanocortin (POMC) mRNA levels; refeeding restores these levels. We determined the time course of changes in hypothalamic NPY, AGRP, and POMC mRNA levels on refeeding after 24 h FD in C57BL mice by in situ hybridization. After 24 h deprivation, mice were refed wi...

EXPRESSION IN THE ARCUATE NUCLEUS AND PARAVENTRICULAR NUCLEUS OF THE HYPOTHALAMUS by KARI ELIZABETH BOLT (Under the direction of Silvia Giraudo) ABSTRACT This study investigated the levels of mRNA of POMC, AgRP and MC4R in the arcuate nucleus and paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus in thirty Sprague Dawley rats fed a low fat diet or a high fat diet over the course of 12 weeks. The HF gr...

Rats normally eat about 85% of their food at night. Lactation increases food intake 3- to 4-fold, but the diurnal pattern of food intake persists. The mechanisms responsible for the diurnal and lactation-induced changes in food intake are still unresolved, hence we have further investigated the possible roles of serum leptin and hypothalamic expression of neuropeptide Y (NPY), agouti-related pe...

Feeding is regulated by perception in the hypothalamus, particularly the first-order arcuate nucleus (ARC) neurons, of the body's energy state. However, the cellular device for converting energy states to the activity of critical neurons in ARC is less defined. We here show that Na(+),K(+)-ATPase (NKA) in ARC senses energy states to regulate feeding. Fasting-induced systemic ghrelin rise and gl...

The melanocortin system, which includes alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH) and its endogenous antagonist, agouti-related protein (AgRP), is fundamental for the central control of energy homeostasis in mammals. Recent studies have demonstrated that many neuropeptides involved in the control of ingestive behavior and energy expenditure, including melanocortins, are also expressed an...

The decision to engage in food-seeking behavior depends not only on homeostatic signals related to energy balance [1] but also on the presence of competing motivational drives [2] and learned cues signaling food availability [3]. Agouti-related peptide (AgRP) neurons in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus are critical for homeostatic feeding behavior. Selective ablation or silencing of AgRP...

The melanocortin system coordinates the maintenance of energy balance via the regulation of both food intake and energy expenditure. Leptin, a key adipogenic hormone involved in the regulation of energy balance is thought to act by stimulating production, in the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus, of -melanocyte stimulating hormone ( MSH), a potent agonist of MC3/4 melanocortin receptors located in t...