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Published on: December 7, 2017
Leptin signaling in astrocytes regulates hypothalamic neuronal circuits and feeding
Jae Geun Kim1, Shigetomo Suyama1, Marco Koch2
1Program in Integrative Cell Signaling and Neurobiology of Metabolism, Section of Comparative Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Abstract:
We found that leptin receptors were expressed in hypothalamic astrocytes and that their conditional deletion led to altered glial morphology and synaptic inputs onto hypothalamic neurons involved in feeding control. Leptin-regulated feeding was diminished, whereas feeding after fasting or ghrelin administration was elevated in mice with astrocyte-specific leptin receptor deficiency. These data reveal an active role of glial cells in hypothalamic synaptic remodeling and control of feeding by leptin.
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