title: Inactivation of β-catenin results in the reduction of postnatal body weight gain.
abstract: Arcuate nucleus of hypothalamus (ARH) is the core component in the regulation circuits of food intake and energy homeostasis. ARH projections to other parts of the hypothalamus and to extrahypothalamic areas are established in the postnatal two weeks, which is a pivotal stage for individual development. β-Catenin, a cell adhesion protein and also the mediator of canonical Wnt signaling pathway, plays an important role in embryonic development and adult homeostasis. However, whether β-catenin plays any roles in the development of hypothalamus is not clear. Here, we report that perinatal conditional knockout of β-catenin by CamKIIα-Cre in forebrain reduces body weight gain from P8 and dramatically shortens life span. Quantitative PCR and in situ hybridization results showed the expression of NPY mRNA in the ARH of β-catenin CKO mice at P15 is obviously increased compared with that of littermate controls, whereas the expression of POMC mRNA is significantly decreased, which suggested the reduction of postnatal body weight gain might be due to the deficiency of food intake. Together, β-catenin might play an important role in the regulation of food intake and postnatal body weight gain probably through affecting the development of ARH circuits.
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Key Laboratory of New Drug Design, School of Pharmacy, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China.
authors.forename: Hong-Tao
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Key Laboratory of New Drug Design, School of Pharmacy, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Key Laboratory of New Drug Design, School of Pharmacy, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Key Laboratory of New Drug Design, School of Pharmacy, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China.
authors.forename: Kui
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Key Laboratory of New Drug Design, School of Pharmacy, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zu
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Key Laboratory of New Drug Design, School of Pharmacy, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China.
authors.forename: Ji-wei
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Key Laboratory of New Drug Design, School of Pharmacy, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China.
authors.forename: Yong-jie
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Key Laboratory of New Drug Design, School of Pharmacy, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China.
authors.forename: Zhi-chuan
authors.initials: ZC
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China.
authors.forename: Zhi-Qi
authors.initials: ZQ
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Key Laboratory of New Drug Design, School of Pharmacy, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China. Electronic address: zhengjing@ecust.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Key Laboratory of New Drug Design, School of Pharmacy, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China. Electronic address: huzelan@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Ze-Lan
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Hu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001111:Arcuate Nucleus of Hypothalamus / Q000502:physiology*; D001835:Body Weight / Q000235:genetics*; D004435:Eating / Q000235:genetics*; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D009478:Neuropeptide Y / Q000378:metabolism; D011333:Pro-Opiomelanocortin / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015430:Weight Gain / Q000235:genetics*; D051176:beta Catenin / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: C495267:CTNNB1 protein, mouse; D009478:Neuropeptide Y; D051176:beta Catenin; D011333:Pro-Opiomelanocortin
keywords: Arcuate nucleus of hypothalamus; Body weight; NPY; POMC; β-Catenin