ABOVE: Rat hippocampal neurons labeled purple with likely GABAergic synapses labeled blue
G.S. SAHIN ET AL. SCI SIGNAL, DOI:10.1126/scisignal.abe4111, 2021.
Leptin is a hormone released by fat cells in adult organisms, and researchers have largely focused on how it controls appetite. In a study published May 18 in Science Signaling, the authors show that leptin promotes synapse formation, or synaptogenesis, in developing rodent neurons in culture.
“This paper does a really wonderful job [breaking] down the mechanisms” of leptin signaling, and the authors look at changes in synaptic function, not just at the protein level, but also on a physiological level, says Laura Cocas, a neuroscientist at Santa Clara University who was not involved in the study. “Because all of the work on the paper is done in vitro, they can do very careful analysis . . . to break down each step in the signaling pathway.”
When Washington State University ...
