Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have found that overactivity of a brain enzyme may play a role in preventing weight gain and obesity. The findings were reported in Cell Metabolism.
To understand what drives hunger and causes metabolic disease, many scientists have focused on the hypothalamus, an almond-sized structure located deep within the brain that controls body temperature, hunger, and thirst. Specialized nerve cells in the hypothalamus sense whether the body contains adequate amounts of nutrients and stored body fat. The cells then send out signals telling other parts of the brain to adjust food intake, metabolic rates, and physical activity accordingly keeping the body's caloric intake in balance with calories burned.
To learn more about these nutrient-sensing pathways and how they go awry in metabolic disorders, researchers at Einstein focused on an enzyme called p70 S6 Kinase 1, or S6K, which plays a role in regulating the growth and proliferation of all cells, including nerve cells.
News release derived from MedicalNewsToday.com. Read the full article >>
