Neuromedin U, a Key Molecule in Metabolic Disorders

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences Vol. 22; no. 8; p. 4238
• Main Authors: Teranishi, Hitoshi, Hanada, Reiko
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 19.04.2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Animal behavior; Body weight; brain reward system; Calories; Circadian rhythms; Energy; Energy expenditure; Energy metabolism; Feeding behavior; Homeostasis; Hypothalamus; Inflammation; Insulin; Insulin secretion; Ligands; Metabolic disorders; Muscle contraction; Nervous system; Neuromedin; neuropeptide; Neuropeptides; NMU system; Obesity; Peptides; Physiology; Public health; Review; Smooth muscle; Spinal cord; Spleen; Stress response; Thermogenesis; Thyroid gland; brain reward system; NMU system; inflammation; neuropeptide; feeding behavior; insulin secretion; energy expenditure; obesity
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms22084238

Obesity is now a public health concern. The leading cause of obesity is an energy imbalance between ingested and expended calories. The mechanisms of feeding behavior and energy metabolism are regulated by a complex of various kinds of molecules, including anorexigenic and orexigenic neuropeptides. One of these neuropeptides, neuromedin U (NMU), was isolated in the 1980s, and its specific receptors, NMUR1 and NMUR2, were defined in 2000. A series of subsequent studies has revealed many of the physiological roles of the NMU system, including in feeding behavior, energy expenditure, stress responses, circadian rhythmicity, and inflammation. Particularly over the past decades, many reports have indicated that the NMU system plays an essential and direct role in regulating body weight, feeding behavior, energy metabolism, and insulin secretion, which are tightly linked to obesity pathophysiology. Furthermore, another ligand of NMU receptors, NMS (neuromedin S), was identified in 2005. NMS has physiological functions similar to those of NMU. This review summarizes recent observations of the NMU system in relation to the pathophysiology of obesity in both the central nervous systems and the peripheral tissues.