ESPE Yearbook of Paediatric Endocrinology

Brief Summary: This study describes how the primary cilia of hypothalamic neurons bearing melanocortin-4 receptors (MC4R) progressively shorten with age, leading to reduced sensitivity to satiety signals, increased appetite, and obesity. This age-related ciliary shortening is exacerbated by chronic leptin-melanocortin signalling, but can be mitigated by dietary restriction or knockdown of ciliogenesis-associated kinase 1 (CILK1). These findings suggest potential therapeutic ap...

In Brief: The authors use cell-tracing of Axin2-positive chondroprogenitor cells in the resting zone during and after food restriction to demonstrate that nutrient availability influences the balance between accumulation and differentiation of resting zone chondrocytes and that this is influenced by Igf-1.Commentary: Catch-up growth is the rapid growth that occurs after growth-inhibiting conditions have been cured or removed. The molecular mechanism for ...