Major
Neuroscience
Anticipated Graduation Year
2021
Access Type
Restricted Access
Abstract
The adipose-derived hormone leptin is involved in regulating homeostatic function. When this satiety signal fails to suppress appetite, the phenomenon is referred to as leptin resistance, but mechanisms contributing to system failure remain unclear. A leptin analog, unpaired1 (upd1), has been found in flies. Varying the level of overexpression of upd1 in the fly brain results in weight gain that scales in a duration-dependent manner, with prolonged overexpression best predicting weight gain. This may provide the first direct evidence that increased leptin itself is a causal factor in the development of leptin resistance.
Faculty Mentors & Instructors
Jennifer Beshel, PhD, Biology Department
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Modeling leptin resistance in Drosophila melanogaster
The adipose-derived hormone leptin is involved in regulating homeostatic function. When this satiety signal fails to suppress appetite, the phenomenon is referred to as leptin resistance, but mechanisms contributing to system failure remain unclear. A leptin analog, unpaired1 (upd1), has been found in flies. Varying the level of overexpression of upd1 in the fly brain results in weight gain that scales in a duration-dependent manner, with prolonged overexpression best predicting weight gain. This may provide the first direct evidence that increased leptin itself is a causal factor in the development of leptin resistance.