Illustrative image of a brain (iStock)
New Israeli research may pave the way for drugs that “turn off the hunger switch” in the human brain with minimal side effects, scientists say.
A receptor in the brain, melanocortin 4 (MC4), is known to control the urge to eat. It has been dubbed the “hunger switch.”
A genetically inherited malfunction with this receptor is believed to be the most common cause of obesity that is triggered by a single gene mutation, impacting an estimated 5 percent of early-onset childhood obesity.
Now, researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science have conducted research that they say could bring about easy manipulation of the receptor among people with such a mutation.
Science, has revealed how the master switch for hunger in the brain, the melanocortin receptor 4 (MC4), works.
The research team, including scientists from the Weizmann Institute of Science, Queen Mary University of London and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, also clarified how this switch is activated by setmelanotide (Imcivree), a drug recently approved for the treatment of severe obesity caused by certain genetic changes.
The findings shed new light on the way hunger is regulated and could help to develop improved anti-obesity medications.
Unexpected finding
The study uncovered the 3D structure of the MC4 receptor, through the use of recent advances in cryogenic electron microscopy. The 3D structure revealed that setmelanotide activates the MC4 receptor by entering its binding pocket –directly hitting the molecular switch that triggers us to feel full- even more potently than the natural satiety hormone. It also turned out that the drug has a surprising helper: an ion of