How tight are your genes? Transcriptional and posttranscriptional regulation of the leptin receptor, NPV, and POMC genes

In the past few years, there has been exponential growth in our knowledge o f genes that control food intake and metabolism. Most of this research has demonstrated either an increased or decreased expression of these "obesity genes" in response to changes in nutritional status. Ultimately, these chan ges reflect modifications in the rate of gene transcription, mRNA stability , translation initiation, or posttranslational processing. Few laboratories have examined specifically which of these molecular mechanisms are respons ible for obesity gene regulation, and thus, the field is wide open for expl oration. In addition, it is possible that some forms of human obesity may b e caused by inherited mutations in transcription factors or other regulator y molecules rather than base pair mutations in the obesity genes themselves . This article focuses an the regulation of the leptin receptor, NPY, and P OMC genes, and explores what is known about the regulation of these obesity genes in response to food intake or changes in body fat stores. Connection s between regulation of these genes and some inherited forms of human obesi ty are made. (C) 2000 Academic Press.