Pomc -expressing progenitors give rise to antagonistic neuronal populations in hypothalamic feeding circuits

• Published in: Nature medicine Vol. 16; no. 4; pp. 403 - 405
• Main Authors: Zeltser, Lori M, Padilla, Stephanie L, Carmody, Jill S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Nature Publishing Group US 01.04.2010; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 631/136/2086; 631/378/1488/1562; 631/443/319/1557; Animals; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Body weight; Body Weight - physiology; brief-communication; Cancer Research; Cellular biology; Complications and side effects; Eating - physiology; Embryonic Stem Cells - physiology; Energy balance; Fluorescent Antibody Technique; Health aspects; Hypothalamus - embryology; Hypothalamus - physiology; Infectious Diseases; Medical research; Metabolic Diseases; Mice; Molecular Medicine; Neural circuitry; Neurons; Neurons - physiology; Neuropeptide Y - physiology; Neuropeptides; Neurosciences; Nutrient balance; Obesity in children; Peptides; Physiological aspects; Prevention; Pro-opiomelanocortin; Pro-Opiomelanocortin - physiology; Risk factors; Rodents; United States
• ISSN: 1078-8956; 1546-170X
• DOI: 10.1038/nm.2126

Hypothalamic neuron circuits regulating energy balance are highly plastic and develop in response to nutrient and hormonal cues. To identify processes that might be susceptible to gestational influences in mice, we characterized the ontogeny of proopiomelanocortin (POMC) and neuropeptide Y (NPY) cell populations, which exert opposing influences on food intake and body weight. These analyses revealed that Pomc is broadly expressed in immature hypothalamic neurons and that half of embryonic Pomc-expressing precursors subsequently adopt a non-POMC fate in adult mice. Moreover, nearly one quarter of the mature NPY+ cell population shares a common progenitor with POMC+ cells.