Laboratory of Molecular Genetics
Positional cloning of the mouse obese gene and its human homologue
Zhang Y. Proenca R. Maffei M. Barone M. Leopold L. Friedman JM.
[published erratum appears in Nature 1995 Mar 30;374(6521):479] [see comments].
Abstract
The mechanisms that balance food intake and energy expenditure determine who will be obese and who will be lean. One of the molecules that regulates energy balance in the mouse is the obese (ob) gene. Mutation of ob results in profound obesity and type II diabetes as part of a syndrome that resembles morbid obesity in humans. The ob gene product may function as part of a signalling pathway from adipose tissue that acts to regulate the size of the body fat depot.
