WIKIMEDIA, XOCOLATL
Neurons in the hypothalamus that express the melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4R) and communicate with a region at the back of the brain create a feeling of fullness that stops hungry mice from eating when the brain cells are activated, according to a study published today (April 27) in Nature Neuroscience.
Previous work demonstrated that a group of MC4R-expressing neurons in the hypothalamus regulated body weight and feeding. In this latest study, a team from Harvard Medical School, the National Institutes of Health, the University of Edinburgh, U.K., and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center genetically engineered mice with MC4R neurons that could be turned on or off by treating the animals with a drug. When the researchers shut the neurons off, mice that had ...
