Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0028754 (obesity)
124,988 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Experimental infection of mouse brain with a neuroadapted strain of canine distemper virus (CDV) leads to early acute encephalitis, followed by late neurological diseases such as motor pathologies (paralysis and turning behavior) or obesity syndrome. We have previously shown that, during the early stage of infection, CDV replicates transiently in selective structures of the brain including the substantia nigra, a structure known to play a critical role in motor control. In this study we demonstrate that CDV replication in the substantia nigra induces an early decrease in transcript level of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), the rate-limiting enzyme in catecholamine synthesis. The CDV infection of neuroblastoma cell culture, constitutively expressing TH, results in downregulation of TH transcription in the absence of cell death. In the few surviving mice with motor deficiencies, a pronounced decrease in TH expression is associated with a loss of dopaminergic cell bodies in the absence of any viral transcripts and proteins, suggesting that the initial CDV infection was sufficient to trigger irreversible neurodegenerative processes.
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PMID:Inhibition of tyrosine hydroxylase expression within the substantia nigra of mice infected with canine distemper virus. 918 58

Ultrasonography (US) is of value in the evaluation and characterization of breast masses in children. Most masses represent either normal breast tissue, cysts, or fibroadenomas. Premature thelarche may be unilateral, and normal breast tissue is found at US. Cysts are commonly retroareolar; when they become infected, they appear sonographically as a complex mass. Fibroadenoma is the most frequent breast tumor in adolescent girls, and it is usually solitary, homogeneous, and hypoechoic. Malignant breast lesions are very rare in children; most are due to metastatic disease secondary to rhabdomyosarcoma, leukemia, lymphoma, and neuroblastoma, and their US appearance is nonspecific. Gynecomastia in boys can be mimicked by general obesity and pectoral hypertrophy; US is helpful in the diagnosis, especially when gynecomastia is asymmetric. Most breast lesions in children and adolescents are benign, and surgery should be avoided to prevent later deformity. US is the ideal imaging modality to evaluate breast lesions and may be used to guide a fine-needle aspiration biopsy. Color Doppler US evaluation is helpful; cysts are avascular, fibroadenomas may be avascular or hypovascular, and abscesses show peripheral increased flow. Bloody nipple discharge is more common in prepubertal patients, may occur in infants, and may be secondary to mammary ductal ectasia. Discharge commonly resolves spontaneously, and findings at US are frequently normal.
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PMID:Breast US in children and adolescents. 1111 14

A 39-year-old woman who presented with typical Cushingoid appearance (moon facies, central obesity, purpura) was admitted to our hospital because of pulmonary infection. She was found to have hypertension, severe hypokalemia, and metabolic alkalosis. Endocrine data revealed elevated plasma levels of ACTH and cortisol with lack of circadian rhythm, non-suppressibility to high-dose dexamethasone, and hyperresponsiveness to CRH stimulation. Although no pituitary mass was detected by MRI of the brain, inferior petrosal sinus sampling showed a step-up of central to peripheral ACTH levels; these data are consistent with the diagnosis of Cushing's disease. She was successfully treated with metyrapone to control hypercortisolemia. Ten months later, a mass was detected in the ethmoid sinus, which was surgically removed. After resection of the ethmoid sinus tumor, her Cushingoid features and hypercortisolemia disappeared, but recurred after enlargement of a second mass in the maxillary sinus. After resection of the maxillary sinus tumor, her hypercortisolemia subsided. Histologically, the tumor tissues from both the ethmoid and maxillary sinus were identical and consistent with the diagnosis of olfactory neuroblastoma. Immunohistochemically, the immunoreactivities of ACTH and POMC were positive in the cytoplasm of tumor cells, and immunoreactive ACTH was demonstrated in both tumor tissues. Thus, this is the second rare case with ectopic ACTH syndrome caused by olfactory neuroblastoma thus far reported.
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PMID:Olfactory neuroblastoma causing ectopic ACTH syndrome. 1641 Jun 58

Melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH), an orexigenic neuropeptide in mammals, activates a G-protein coupled receptor, MCHR1. It is expected that antagonists of MCHR1 function will prove therapeutically useful as anti-obesity agents. Intracellular signaling by MCHR1 has been investigated primarily using non-neural cell lines expressing the recombinant receptor, in which MCHR1 has been shown to couple to G alpha(i/o) and G alpha(q) G-proteins. While these cell lines have been widely utilized to discover and optimize small molecule antagonists, it is unknown whether the intracellular signaling pathways in these cells accurately reflect those in neurons. Thus, we sought to develop a neurally derived cell line endogenously expressing MCHR1. IMR32, a human neuroblastoma cell line, has been shown to express MCHR1 mRNA; however, we were unable to detect either MCH-binding or MCH-stimulated Ca++-mobilization in these cells. Following transfection of IMR32 cells with a plasmid encoding human G alpha(16) G-protein, we isolated a cell line, I3.4.2, which responded to MCH in Ca++-mobilization assays. We found that the expression level of MCHR1 mRNA in I3.4.2 cells was 2000-fold higher than in the parent cell line. Using [125I]MCH saturation-binding to I3.4.2 cell membranes, we estimated the Bmax as 0.72 pmol/mg protein and the Kd as 0.35 nM. We report that Ca++-mobilization in I3.4.2 cells was insensitive to pertussis toxin (Ptx) treatment, indicating that signaling was via G alpha(q) G-proteins. Furthermore, negative results in cAMP accumulation assays confirmed the lack of signaling via the G alpha(i/o) G-proteins. Our results suggest that the I3.4.2 cell line may be useful for characterization of MCHR1 activity in a neural-derived cell line.
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PMID:Characterization of a neuronal cell line expressing native human melanin-concentrating hormone receptor 1 (MCHR1). 1652 57

We report a 6-year-old girl with a subtle form of hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia and a phenotype consisting of curly hair, a round face, a stocky build, and obesity, which was associated with intrathoracic neuroblastoma. Although this new association could be a chance occurrence, its description may alert physicians to look for similar combinations and report these, as it may lead to better syndrome delineation, and patient care.
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PMID:Hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia and intrathoracic neuroblastoma. 1754 78

The beacon gene is involved in the regulation of energy metabolism, food intake, and obesity. We localized its gene product, beacon-/ubiquitin 5-like immunoreactivity in brains of normal-weight, non-psychotic individuals, adipose (BMI over 32), non-psychotic individuals, and haloperidol-treated schizophrenics. The protein was found to be highly expressed in many neurons of the paraventricular and supraoptic hypothalamic nuclei. Besides, it was detected in neurons of other hypothalamic areas (suprachiasmatic, arcuate, and ventromedial nuclei) as well as outside the hypothalamus (Nuc. basalis Meynert, thalamus, hippocampus, and some neocortical areas). A morphometric analysis of beacon-immunoreactive hypothalamic and neocortical neurons revealed that compared to normal-weight controls in haloperidol-treated schizophrenics, there was a significant increase of protein-expressing supraoptic, paraventricular, and orbitofrontal neurons. However, a significant increase in beacon-expressing supraoptic neurons was also seen in adipose, non-psychotic individuals in comparison with normal-weight controls. Haloperidol at different doses has no effect on beacon expression in SHSY5Y neuroblastoma cells, which makes the assumption unlikely that haloperidol per se is responsible for the increased neuronal expression of the peptide in schizophrenics. In rats with a neonatal lesion of the ventral hippocampus (a widely used animal model of schizophrenia), we found an increased neuronal expression of beacon in the paraventricular and supraoptic nuclei. We suppose that elevated hypothalamic expression of beacon-like protein in non-obese schizophrenics is not primarily related to metabolic alterations, but to a certain role in schizophrenia, which is possibly unrelated to aspects of weight gain and obesity. The latter assumption finds some support by data obtained in rats with ventral hippocampus lesion.
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PMID:Beacon-like/ubiquitin-5-like immunoreactivity is highly expressed in human hypothalamus and increased in haloperidol-treated schizophrenics and a rat model of schizophrenia. 1819 6

Growing evidences suggest that obesity is associated with hypothalamic leptin resistance, leading to the alteration of food intake control. Alternative treatment using ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) has been suggested because CNTF exerts a leptin-like effect, even in leptin-resistant states, but the mechanisms by which CNTF maintains this effect are not yet understood. Both leptin and CNTF act in the hypothalamus through similar signaling pathways including janus kinase-2/signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT)-3 pathway. To explore the differences and interactions between leptin and CNTF signaling pathways, differentiated human neuroblastoma cells (SH-SY5Y) were exposed to either leptin or CNTF and then challenged for each cytokine. Leptin pretreatment completely abolished leptin-dependent STAT-3 and ERK 1/2 phosphorylations without affecting CNTF action. The lack of cross-desensitization between leptin and CNTF signaling pathways occurred despite the induction of suppressor of cytokine signaling-3 in response to both cytokines. Interestingly, leptin as well as insulin induced the expression of phosphotyrosine phosphatase (PTP)-1B, whereas CNTF treatment did not affect its expression. In addition, acute leptin treatment but not CNTF induced PTP-1B expression in mouse hypothalamic arcuate nucleus. Furthermore, the overexpression of human PTP-1B in SH-SY5Y cells completely abolished leptin- and insulin-dependent janus kinase-2, STAT-3, and ERK 1/2 phosphorylations, but CNTF action was not altered. Collectively, our results suggest that PTP-1B constitutes a key divergent element between leptin/insulin and CNTF signaling pathways at the neuronal level, which may constitute a possible mechanism that explains the efficacy of CNTF in leptin-resistant states.
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PMID:Leptin but not ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) induces phosphotyrosine phosphatase-1B expression in human neuronal cells (SH-SY5Y): putative explanation of CNTF efficacy in leptin-resistant state. 1900 9

In search of potent beta(3)-adrenergic receptor agonists, a series of novel substituted 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinolin-6-yloxypropanes has been synthesized and evaluated for their beta(3)-adrenergic receptor agonistic activity (ranging from -17.73% to 90.64% inhibition at 10 microM) using well established Human SK-N-MC neuroblastoma cells model. Four molecules viz. 11, 15, 22 and 23 showed beta(3)-AR agonistic IC(50) value of 0.55, 0.59, 1.18 and 1.76 microM, respectively. These four candidates have been identified as possible leads for further development of beta(3)-adrenergic receptor agonists for obesity and Type-II diabetes pharmacotherapy. The free OH and NH functions are found to be essential for beta(3)-adrenergic receptor agonistic activity. Among the synthesized beta(3)-adrenergic receptor agonists having 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline scaffold, the N-benzyl group is found to be superior over N-arylsulfonyl group. A putative pharmacophore model has been modeled considering the above four active molecules which distinguishes well between the active and inactive molecules.
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PMID:Substituted 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinolin-6-yloxypropanes as beta3-adrenergic receptor agonists: design, synthesis, biological evaluation and pharmacophore modeling. 1908 Dec 60

Functional variations in the secretogranin III (SCG3) gene are associated with susceptibility to obesity. SCG3 forms secretory granules with orexin, melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH), neuropeptide Y (NPY), and POMC in the hypothalamus. In this study, we screened proteins for SCG3-binding activity and identified secretogranin II (SCG2) using a yeast two-hybrid system. Immunoprecipitation revealed that SCG2 interacts with SCG3. In situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry indicated that SCG2 was highly expressed in the lateral hypothalamic area, paraventricular nucleus, and arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus. Double-labeling immunohistochemical analysis demonstrated that SCG2 was expressed in orexin-, MCH-, NPY-, and POMC-expressing neurons. SCG2 was also coexpressed with SCG3. Upon introduction into neuroblastoma cells, SCG2 was expressed in the cytosol and formed granule-like structures with SCG3, orexin, NPY, or POMC. SCG3 bound to POMC; however, it did not bind to orexin, MCH, or NPY. By contrast, SCG2 formed aggregates with orexin, MCH, NPY, and POMC. SCG2 may act as a hormone carrier for orexin, MCH, NPY, and POMC by binding with SCG3, which targets proteins to the secretory granules. SCG2 mRNA levels increased along with those of SCG3, orexin, MCH, and NPY after a 24-h fast, suggesting that the SCG2/SCG3 system may respond in an adaptive manner to acute body weight changes. However, this SCG2/SCG3 system appears to be unresponsive to chronic body weight changes, such as diet-induced obesity or obesity in ob/ob mice. We suggest that SCG2, as well as SCG3, may be a potential regulator of food intake based on its capacity to accumulate appetite-related hormones into secretory granules.
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PMID:Secretogranin II binds to secretogranin III and forms secretory granules with orexin, neuropeptide Y, and POMC. 1935 84

Regular consumption of green tea benefits people in prevention from cardiovascular disorders, obesity as well as neurodegenerative diseases. (-)-Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) is regarded as the most biologically active catechin in green tea. However, the stability and bioavailability of EGCG are restricted. The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether a pro-drug, a fully acetylated EGCG (pEGCG), could be more effective in neuroprotection in Parkinsonism mimic cellular model. Retinoic acid (RA)-differentiated neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells were pre-treated with different concentrations of EGCG and pEGCG for 30 min and followed by incubation of 25 microM 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) for 24h. We found that a broad dosage range of pEGCG (from 0.1 to 10 microM) could significantly reduce lactate dehydrogenase release. Likewise, 10 microM of pEGCG was effective in reducing caspase-3 activity, while EGCG at all concentrations tested in the model failed to attenuate caspase-3 activity induced by 6-OHDA. Furthermore, Western-blot analysis showed that Akt could be one of the specific signaling pathways stimulated by pEGCG in neuroprotection. It was demonstrated that 25 microM of 6-OHDA significantly suppressed the phosphorylation level of Akt. Only pEGCG at 10 microM markedly increased its phosphorylation level compared to 6-OHDA alone. Taken together, as pEGCG has higher stability and bioavailability for further investigation, it could be a potential neuroprotective agent and our current findings may offer certain clues for optimizing its application in future.
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PMID:A pro-drug of the green tea polyphenol (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) prevents differentiated SH-SY5Y cells from toxicity induced by 6-hydroxydopamine. 2002 75


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