LOCALIZATION OF LEPTIN RECEPTOR MESSENGER-RNA EXPRESSION IN MOUSE-BRAIN

THE distribution of the leptin receptor in the brain of C57 mice was i nvestigated using a non-radioactive in situ hybridization method. Lept in receptor mRNA expression was highest in the arcuate nucleus and med ian eminence of the hypothalamus, but it was also abundant in hippocam pus, primarily in the dentate gyrus and CA1, and was detected at low l evels in piriform cortex and the medial margin of the medial habenular nucleus. The localization of leptin receptor-containing neurones in t he present study indicates the possibility that the leptin receptor is expressed on neuropeptide Y-containing neurones.