A synthetic 15-mer aa43-57 peptide from mouse obese (Ob) gene.
Obesity, a common nutritional disorder, is associated with diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, cancer and many other health related problems. At least five genes, Obese (ob), diabetes (db), fat (fat), agouti yellow (Ay), and tubby (tub) have been linked to obesity. Recently, Ob genes (mouse and human) have been cloned. Obese gene encodes an adipocyte-tissue derived secreted Ob protein/Leptin (167 amino acid, ~16kD) that controls body weight homeostasis. Exogenous administration of recombinant Ob protein can reduce food intake and body weight. However, Ob protein had no effect in db/db mice suggesting a defect in leptin signaling mechanism. The Obese receptors (Ob-R) have now been cloned from mouse choroid plexus and it is expressed in several tissues including hypothalamus. The Ob-R has been shown to be a product of db gene that has long been thought to encode the receptor for a weight-controlling hormone. The Ob-R has at least 6 alternatively spliced forms with modifications at the amino and C-terminus (Fig 2). The Ob-R varies in length after Lysine889. The Ob-Ra represents the initially identified mouse Ob-R (short form, 894aa). Ob-Rb displays ~78% homology to the human Ob-R (long form, 1165aa). Expression of Ob-Rb and other forms have been detected in hypothalamus and other tissues. The soluble Ob-Re is found in adipose tissues, hypothalamus, heart, and testes. Ob-R is abnormally spliced in db/db mice and missing the cytoplasmic domain thought to be important for leptin signaling.
