Slice of a mouse hypothalamusWIKIMEDIA, ZABBNResearchers have shown that a hormone secreted by bone, called lipocalin 2 (LCN2), suppresses appetite in mice. The results, published today (March 8) in Nature, suggest that LCN2 crosses the rodents’ blood-brain barrier and binds a receptor in the hypothalamus. The team also found a link between body weight and LCN2 levels in people with type 2 diabetes.
The authors “have identified a protein that’s secreted from bone that has a pretty significant impact on feeding behavior,” Lora Heisler of the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, who did not participate in the work, told The Scientist. “And the fact that they found that some supporting evidence in humans is really exciting.”
“We have found a new role for bone as an endocrine organ, and that is its ability to regulate appetite,” said study coauthor Stavroula Kousteni of Columbia University in New York City.
Scientists had previously identified LCN2 as a protein expressed in fat cells, but Kousteni and colleagues showed that it is enriched 10-fold in osteoblasts. When they generated mice without LCN2 in their osteoblasts, levels of the circulating hormone dropped 67 ...
