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Deciphering New Neurocircuitries to Modulate Appetite

Hughes, Damien (2024) MOBM02 20231
Degree Projects in Molecular Biology
Popular Abstract
Food for Thought, or Thought for Food?

Obesity affects 12 % of adults worldwide (GBD 2015 Obesity Collaborators, 2017). This number is only expected to increase in the future. Serious risks are associated with obesity such as heart disease, high blood pressure, and type two diabetes (Pantalone et al., 2017). There are not currently effective and safe methods to aid weight loss (Ruban et al., 2019). Further research is necessary to identify an effective way to cause weight loss.

One area of research is studying how different brain areas influence appetite. While there is an understanding of the main functions of brain regions, there is a lack of detail regarding specific nuances in function. This study focuses on the insula, which is... (More)
Food for Thought, or Thought for Food?

Obesity affects 12 % of adults worldwide (GBD 2015 Obesity Collaborators, 2017). This number is only expected to increase in the future. Serious risks are associated with obesity such as heart disease, high blood pressure, and type two diabetes (Pantalone et al., 2017). There are not currently effective and safe methods to aid weight loss (Ruban et al., 2019). Further research is necessary to identify an effective way to cause weight loss.

One area of research is studying how different brain areas influence appetite. While there is an understanding of the main functions of brain regions, there is a lack of detail regarding specific nuances in function. This study focuses on the insula, which is a region that plays a role in appetite (Dagher, 2009; Malik et al., 2008). By targeting only the insula, details regarding the nuances in function can be investigated.

In order to study specific brain areas, there are multiple tools that can be used. One such tool is through genetically modified mice. These mice have special proteins that allow us to activate or inhibit specific brain areas through the use of activator molecules (Roth, 2016). We are also in the process of improving techniques for producing these genetically modified mice, as well as improving the activator molecules.

In the experimental setup there are two groups of mice, one that we can specifically activate the insula, and one that we cannot. There are two different activator molecules that are used. Appetite is measured by food intake, or the amount of time spent in the food zone. Between these two groups of mice, there was not a statistically significant difference in food intake, or time spent in the food zone. This is also true when either of the two activator molecules are used. Although, just because there was not a statistically significant change in food intake does not mean that activating the insula has no effect on appetite. There are other factors such as technical difficulties with equipment, or that only a small number of mice used, that could affect results. This experiment should be repeated with more mice, as well as with functioning equipment to acquire more data.

Other factors are investigated as well, such as amount of activity, or quality between the two activator molecules. Even experiments that do not show statistically significant results yield important information about how an activator molecule behaves in an experiment. For certain activator molecules, this information is not yet known. This experiment also helps the design of a future experiment to further study the effect that the insula has on appetite. Even if it is a small piece, every piece of the puzzle is important.
Master’s Degree Project in Molecular Biology in Medicine 30 credits 2022
Department of Biology, Lund University

Supervisor: Rana Soylu Kucharz
Experimental Medical Science (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Hughes, Damien
supervisor
organization
course
MOBM02 20231
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
language
English
id
9176952
date added to LUP
2024-10-23 10:06:20
date last changed
2024-10-23 10:06:20
@misc{9176952,
  author       = {{Hughes, Damien}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Deciphering New Neurocircuitries to Modulate Appetite}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}