title: Melanocortin 4 receptor is not required for estrogenic regulations on energy homeostasis and reproduction.
abstract: Brain estrogen receptor-α (ERα) is essential for estrogenic regulation of energy homeostasis and reproduction. We previously showed that ERα expressed by pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons mediates estrogen's effects on food intake, body weight, negative regulation of hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis (HPG axis) and fertility.
  
  
  
  We report here that global deletion of a key downstream receptor for POMC peptide, the melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4R), did not affect normal negative feedback regulation of estrogen on the HPG axis, estrous cyclicity and female fertility. Furthermore, loss of the MC4R did not influence estrogenic regulation on food intake and body weight. These results indicate that the MC4R is not required for estrogen's effects on metabolic and reproductive functions.
authors.affiliation: Children's Nutrition Research Center, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030. Electronic address: pingwenx@bcm.edu.
authors.forename: Pingwen
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430022, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Liangru
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Children's Nutrition Research Center, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030.
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.affiliation: Children's Nutrition Research Center, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030.
authors.forename: Yongjie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Children's Nutrition Research Center, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030.
authors.forename: Chunmei
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Children's Nutrition Research Center, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030.
authors.forename: Yanlin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Children's Nutrition Research Center, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030.
authors.forename: Xiaofeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Children's Nutrition Research Center, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030.
authors.forename: Ilirjana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hyseni
authors.affiliation: Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030.
authors.forename: Qingchun
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.affiliation: Children's Nutrition Research Center, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030; Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030. Electronic address: yongx@bcm.edu.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight; D004435:Eating; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D004967:Estrogens; D025461:Feedback, Physiological; D005260:Female; D006706:Homeostasis; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D011247:Pregnancy; D011333:Pro-Opiomelanocortin; D044105:Receptor, Melanocortin, Type 4 / Q000502:physiology*; D012098:Reproduction
chemical_list: D004967:Estrogens; D044105:Receptor, Melanocortin, Type 4; D011333:Pro-Opiomelanocortin
keywords: Energy homeostasis; Estrogen; MC4R; Reproduction