Gene regulation of the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus during development and postnatal energy balance

We have witnessed a dramatic expansion of metabolic pathologies including obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases during the last several decades. The fundamental cause of obesity and many metabolic disorders is an energy imbalance between caloric input and energy output. Here we present our discoveries that reveal two key molecular mechanisms for how the expression of the orexigenic neuropeptides, AgRP and NPY, are controlled, and also identify a critical transcription factor (Isl1) that regulates embryonic development of various arcuate neuronal cell types.