title: Obesity: the role of hypothalamic AMP-activated protein kinase in body weight regulation.
abstract: Obesity is rapidly increasing and is of great public health concern worldwide. Although there have been remarkable developments in obesity research over the past 10 years, the molecular mechanism of obesity is still not completely understood. Body weight results from the balance between food intake and energy expenditure. Recent studies have found that hypothalamic AMP-activated protein kinase plays a key role in regulating these processes. Leptin, insulin, glucose and alpha-lipoic acid have been shown to reduce food intake by lowering hypothalamic AMP-activated protein kinase activity, whereas ghrelin and glucose depletion increase food intake by increasing hypothalamic AMP-activated protein kinase activity. In addition, this enzyme plays a role in the central regulation of energy expenditure. These findings indicate that hypothalamic AMP-activated protein kinase is an important signal molecule, which integrates nutritional and hormonal signals and modulates feeding behavior and energy expenditure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Song-Pa P.O. Box 145, Seoul 138-600, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Woo Je
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Eun Hee
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Koh
authors.forename: Jong Chul
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Won
authors.forename: Min-Seon
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Joong-Yeol
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Ki-Up
authors.initials: KU
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D055372:AMP-Activated Protein Kinases; D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000378:metabolism; D001835:Body Weight; D004435:Eating; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D006706:Homeostasis; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000378:metabolism*; D009097:Multienzyme Complexes / Q000378:metabolism*; D009765:Obesity / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D009097:Multienzyme Complexes; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D055372:AMP-Activated Protein Kinases