The established dogma about regulation of feeding is based on the interaction amongst hypothalamic orexigenic and anorexigenic neuropeptides. However, the molecular underpinnings of those interactions remain unclear. A recent article published in Nature by Zhang, Andermann and colleagues first demonstrated that the transition between hunger and satiety depends on the regulation of 3',5'-cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVH) providing novel insights on the spatial and temporal basis by which neuropeptides act.
Keywords: AgRP; Food intake; Hypothalamus; NPY; cAMP.