A Surprising Find Regarding a Gene Linked to Obesity

A recent study regarding the gene MC3R linked to obesity and diabetes provided some surprising and potentially-helpful revelations. In the study, researchers from the Scripps Research Institute developed a new transgenic animal model where expression of the MC3R gene in mice is selectively "switched on and off" in different cell types. When the MC3R gene was suppressed in both the brain and peripheral tissues, there was a significant impact on metabolic homeostasis. When the MC3R gene was suppressed only in the brain tissue, barely any impact on metabolic homeostasis was observed, and the mice remained obese. This was a surprising find, for it implied that the actions of the receptor expressed outside of the brain are just as important as those expressed within. This offers a whole new prospect for drug treatments that will hopefully pave the way for the fight against today's obesity epidemic.