Appetite

PWS-InnoCentive Research Challenge is Live!

Here's a blog from FPWR Board member Shawn Johnson about the "PWS Research Challenge: Advancing Appetite and Satiety Research", which FPWR has launched in collaboration with InnoCentive.  Shawn championed the idea of a crowdsourcing approach to generate new insight into hyperphagia in PWS:

MCH neurons in animal models of Prader-Willi syndrome

Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a disease caused by mutations on human chromosome 15 leading to "floppy" infants initially, and obesity and sleep disorders later. Although genetic defects underlying PWS have been documented, it is still not well understood how the loss-of-function of genes results in various symptoms in PWS. It has been shown that the dysfunction of the hypothalamus, a brain structure, contributes to symptoms seen in PWS patients.

Funding Year: 
2010
Awarded To: 
Xiao-Bing Gao, PhD
Amount: 
$50,000
Institution: 
Yale University

The 5-HT2CR: Mining a new experimental approach to therapeutics for Prader-Willi syndrome

Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS) is a complex genetic disorder in which several genes are missing or not functional. PWS is characterized by initial loss of muscle tone and failure to thrive neonatally; children with PWS develop behavioral and cognitive problems, reproductive defects, and excessive overeating. A major medical concern is the morbid obesity that results from incessant food-seeking and an inability to feel full. The chromosomal defect in PWS patients deletes a gene sequence involved in regulating a receptor found in the brain, the serotonin 5-HT2C receptor (5-HT2CR).

Funding Year: 
2010
Awarded To: 
Kathryn Cunningham, PhD
Amount: 
$50,000
Institution: 
University of Texas Medical Branch

What's for dinner? Mandometer anyone?

So, here's a different approach.  A new study looks at the use of a computerized device in helping to modify eating behavior in typically developing obese adolescents.  Treatment of childhood obesity by retraining eating behaviour: randomized controlled trial examines the use of a Mandometer, which provides real time feedback during meals.  Originally developed for people eating disorders such as anorexia, this

Unpublished
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What's new with ghrelin??

Sibutramine evaluated in PWS

Individuals with PWS are, in many ways, perfect subjects for studying the effectiveness of candidate obesity drugs.

FTO - a new gene influencing obesity

A new article sheds a little bit of light on the latest player in obesity – the FTO gene (the fat-mass and obesity-associated gene).

Fat Fish

Zebrafish are hot - these little fish are all the rage in the research world these days. They develop very quickly (embryo to fish in just a couple of days) and scientists are developing better ways to manipulate their genes and use them to study human disorders. Obviously, fish are pretty different than humans, but surprisingly many pathways are well conserved across the species.

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