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Foundation for Prader-Willi Blog | Research (47)

New approach to gene therapy - zinc fingers

I wanted to share a new article that just came out in "Nature" (a very well respected journal) in the field of gene therapy. The link to the abstract is below. This advance is not likely to have an impact in PWS in the near future, but it does repres...

Topics: Research

Ghrelin in PWS and 'hypothalamic obesity'

Two recent papers look at the obesity due to hypothalamic damage (hypothalamic obesity-HO, which can occur, for example, after treatment for a brain tumor), and one directly compares that condition to PWS.

Topics: Research

Figuring out how C75 acts

Here's a new article trying to sort out how C75 acts. For those of you who have tried to read any of the medical literature on appetite/feeding/satiety, you have probably realized that there are many hormones and neurotransmitters that influence food...

Topics: Research

Orexin and addiction

Here is an interesting new study about orexin (aka hypocretin). Recall that orexin was first identified as an appetite stimulating molecule. It was then tied to narcolepsy (through stuides of a well-defined colony of narcoleptic dogs). It is involved...

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Another peptide that regulates appetite-neuromedin U

OK, you've learned about leptin and ghrelin (and maybe NPY, MSH, AgRP and CART). Here's another neuropeptide, neuormedin U, that is important in regulating body weight and energy expenditure.

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Pacemaker neurons integrate hunger and satiety

A paper supported by your funds has just come out. This study is from Dr. Spanswick, whose project: "Understanding the action of ghrelin in the brain: Identification of novel treatments for hyperphagia" FPWR is supporting.

Topics: Research

Another ghrelin knockout mouse

Below is an abstract of a paper just published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) discussing a new mouse model in which they have completely deleted the ghrelin gene. (you'll recall that individuals with PWS frequently have...

Topics: Research

Orexin promotes wakefulness in a mouse model

You may remember that orexin is a small protein (peptide) released in the brain, which was originally identified because it stimulates feeding. In addition to a role in feeding/energy regulation, it is also critical in wakefulness. People with narcol...

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Leptin replacement in humans

We all know leptin regulates appetite. It is a hormone, released by fat cells, that there is plenty of fat around -- essentially a 'stop eating' signal produced by fat cells and received in the brain. When leptin was first identified, people thought ...

Topics: Research