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Endocrinology Vol. 140, No. 12 5995-5998
Copyright © 1999 by The Endocrine Society

RAPID COMMUNICATIONS

Leptin Gene Expression in the Brain and Pituitary Gland

Barbara Morash, Audrey Li, Paul R. Murphy, Michael Wilkinson and Ehud Ur

Division of Endocrinology (B.M., E.U.) and Departments of Physiology and Biophysics (A.L., P.R.M., M.W.) and Obstetrics and Gynecology (M.W.), Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 2Y9 Canada

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Ehud Ur, Victoria General Hospital, Division of Endocrinology & Metabolism, 048 7N Victoria Boulevard, 1278 Tower Road, Québec, Canada B3H 2Y9.

Abstract

The adipocyte-derived hormone, leptin, and its receptor, are now known to be integral components of a physiological signalling system that regulates fuel stores and energy balance. Constitutive leptin expression has been demonstrated only in adipose tissue, placenta and stomach. We have used RT-PCR to show that leptin mRNA is selectively transcribed in specific areas of rat brain and pituitary, and in a rat glioblastoma cell line. Using immunocytochemistry we have also shown leptin protein immunoreactivity in the corresponding tissues and cells, and confirmed this by Western blot using two epitope-specific antisera. Leptin mRNA expression in the hypothalamus is suppressed by fasting (48 hr), suggesting a role for brain leptin in the central regulation of appetite. These data support the hypothesis that central nervous system derived leptin is a likely ligand for central leptin receptors.

Received August 30, 1999.





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