Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center have revealed how a mutation in a single gene is responsible for the inability of neurons to effectively pass along appetite suppressing signals from the body to the right place in the brain. What results is obesity caused by a voracious appetite. Their study, published online on March 18, 2012 on Nature Medicine's website, suggests there might be a way to stimulate expression of that gene to treat obesity caused by uncontrolled eating. The research team specifically found that a mutation in the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (Bdnf) gene in mice does not allow brain neurons to effectively pass leptin and insulin chemical signals through the brain. In humans, these hormones, which are released in the body after a person eats, are designed to "tell" the body to stop eating. But if the signals fail to reach correct locations in the hypothalamus, the area in the brain that signals satiety, eating continues. "This is the first time protein synthesis in dendrites, tree-like extensions of neurons, has been found to be critical for control of weight," says the study's senior investigator, Baoji Xu, Ph.D., an associate professor of pharmacology and physiology at Georgetown. "This discovery may open up novel strategies to help the brain control body weight," he says. Dr. Xu has long investigated the Bdnf gene. He has found that the gene produces a growth factor that controls communication between neurons. For example, he has shown that during development, BDNF is important to the formation and maturation of synapses, the structures that permit neurons to send chemical signals between each other. The Bdnf gene generates one short transcript and one long transcript.Login Or Register To Read Full Story