title: Cilia and Obesity.
abstract: The ciliopathies Bardet-Biedl syndrome and Alström syndrome cause obesity. How ciliary dysfunction leads to obesity has remained mysterious, partly because of a lack of understanding of the physiological roles of primary cilia in the organs and pathways involved in the regulation of metabolism and energy homeostasis. Historically, the study of rare monogenetic disorders that present with obesity has informed our molecular understanding of the mechanisms involved in nonsyndromic forms of obesity. Here, we present a framework, based on genetic studies in mice and humans, of the molecular and cellular pathways underlying long-term regulation of energy homeostasis. We focus on recent progress linking these pathways to the function of the primary cilia with a particular emphasis on the roles of neuronal primary cilia in the regulation of satiety.
authors.affiliation: Diabetes Center and Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94143.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vaisse
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Cardiovascular Research Institute, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94158.
authors.forename: Jeremy F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Reiter
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Indianapolis, Indiana 46202.
authors.forename: Nicolas F
authors.initials: NF
authors.lastname: Berbari
mesh_terms: D056769:Alstrom Syndrome / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D000818:Animals; D020788:Bardet-Biedl Syndrome / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002923:Cilia / Q000502:physiology*; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D009765:Obesity / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D012528:Satiety Response