title: The GCN2 kinase biases feeding behavior to maintain amino acid homeostasis in omnivores.
abstract: To insure an adequate supply of nutrients, omnivores choose among available food sources. This process is exemplified by the well-characterized innate aversion of omnivores to otherwise nutritious foods of imbalanced amino acid content. We report that brain-specific inactivation of GCN2, a ubiquitously expressed protein kinase that phosphorylates translation initiation factor 2 alpha (eIF2alpha) in response to intracellular amino acid deficiency, impairs this aversive response. GCN2 inactivation also diminishes phosphorylated eIF2alpha levels in the mouse anterior piriform cortex following consumption of an imbalanced meal. An ancient intracellular signal transduction pathway responsive to amino acid deficiency thus affects feeding behavior by activating a neuronal circuit that biases consumption against imbalanced food sources.
authors.affiliation: Unité de Nutrition et Métabolisme Protéique, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique de Theix, 63122 Saint Genès-Champanelle, France.
authors.forename: Anne-Catherine
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Maurin
authors.forename: Céline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jousse
authors.forename: Julien
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Averous
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Parry
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bruhat
authors.forename: Yoan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cherasse
authors.forename: Huiqing
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Yuhong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Heather P
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Harding
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ron
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fafournoux
mesh_terms: D000596:Amino Acids / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D015852:Eukaryotic Initiation Factor-2 / Q000378:metabolism; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D006706:Homeostasis / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011494:Protein Kinases / Q000172:deficiency / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D015852:Eukaryotic Initiation Factor-2; D011494:Protein Kinases; C070634:Eif2ak4 protein, mouse; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases