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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
Weizmann Institute of Science
It could happen if the tunnel is long enough, but the chances are basically zero
How much time does it take to send a package from New York to Tel Aviv, and how does that compare with sending an email from one side of the Weizmann Institute of Science campus to the other? Now shrink the package down to the size of one of the electrons making up the email and put up an impenetrable barrier over the ocean. The “package” electron could make the crossing faster, even breaking the light “speed limit.” Prof. Eli Pollak, together with postdoctoral fellow Dr. Tom Rivlin, both of the Weizmann Institute’s Chemical and Biological Physics Department, and Prof. Randall Dumont of McMaster University in Canada, recently provided theoretical support for this idea.