Neuropeptide "S"

The International Congress of Neuroendocrinology was held this week at Univ Pittsburgh- some very interesting things were dicussed there .They have some nice summaries, including 'lay summaries' of research on hormones important in stress, eating, etc. A “new” neuropeptide (neuropeptide S, NPS) is described that looks very interesting; NPS induces wakefulness, stimulates activity and lessens anxiety. The peptide and its receptors are just being characterized with respect to location, function, etc.Dr. Bloom’s group recently determined that NPS also decreases food intake (at least for the short term). Determining exactly how this peptide mediates its effects will be the next step.Neuropeptide s stimulates the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis and inhibits food intake. Smith KL, Patterson M, Dhillo WS, Patel SR, Semjonous NM, Gardiner JV, Ghatei MA, Bloom SR. Endocrinology. 2006 Jul;147(7):3510-8.