[Frontiers in Bioscience S4, 953-966, January 1, 2012]

Hypothalamic Akt/PKB signaling in regulation of food intake

Dong-Hoon Kim1, Stephen C. Woods2, Randy J. Seeley3

1Department of Pharmacology, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea, 2Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, 3Department of Internal Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Abstract
2. Introduction
3. CNS regulation of energy homeostasis
3.1. CNS regions regulating food intake
3.2. Neuroendocrine sensing of adiposity signals in the ARC
3.3 .Nutrient sensing of metabolic substrates in the ARC
4. Hypothalamic Akt/PKB signaling in food intake
4.1. Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR)
4.2. AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)
5. Conclusion
6. Acknowledgements
7. References

1. ABSTRACT

Recent tremendous advances in our understanding of the regulation of food intake are expected to contribute to the treatment of obesity in the near future. The hypothalamus is a center for regulation of food intake and NPY/AgRP and POMC neurons are key regulators of food intake in the arcuate nucleus. The level of energy in the body is monitored by energy sensors in the hypothalamus. A variety of signals originating from peripheral organs to sense the status of energy converge on the hypothalamus and diverse neurons in the hypothalamus are involved in determining the output of signal to regulate food intake. Therefore, it is important to understand the signals and energy sensors in the hypothalamus. In this review, we describe the potential role of Akt/PKB signaling as an energy sensor that regulates food intake.