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A brief glimpse into new insight driving the comparative biology of energy homeostasis in vertebrates with a focus on non-mammalian vertebrates. What are the key conserved mechanisms and what aspects of feeding behavior and energy allocation are different between species?

non-mammalian --- energy expenditure --- energy homeostasis --- leptin --- melanocortin

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This eBook is a collection of articles from a Frontiers Research Topic. Frontiers Research Topics are very popular trademarks of the Frontiers Journals Series: they are collections of at least ten articles, all centered on a particular subject. With their unique mix of varied contributions from Original Research to Review Articles, Frontiers Research Topics unify the most influential researchers, the latest key findings and historical advances in a hot research area! Find out more on how to host your own Frontiers Research Topic or contribute to one as an author by contacting the Frontiers Editorial Office: frontiersin.org/about/contact

nutrient sensing --- energy balance --- hypothalamus --- olfactory bulb --- melanocortin system --- polyunsaturated fatty acids --- ceramides --- neural stem cells

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This eBook is a collection of articles from a Frontiers Research Topic. Frontiers Research Topics are very popular trademarks of the Frontiers Journals Series: they are collections of at least ten articles, all centered on a particular subject. With their unique mix of varied contributions from Original Research to Review Articles, Frontiers Research Topics unify the most influential researchers, the latest key findings and historical advances in a hot research area! Find out more on how to host your own Frontiers Research Topic or contribute to one as an author by contacting the Frontiers Editorial Office: frontiersin.org/about/contact

Science: general issues --- Physiology --- nutrient sensing --- energy balance --- hypothalamus --- olfactory bulb --- melanocortin system --- polyunsaturated fatty acids --- ceramides --- neural stem cells

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Alteration in adequate energy balance maintenance results in serious disturbances such as obesity and its related metabolic disorders. In Mammals, energy balance is homeostatically controlled through hormonal and neuroendocrine systems which cooperation is based on cross-talk between central and peripheral signals. The hypothalamus as well as peripheral hormones among which adipokines from adipose tissue and thyroid hormones play a crucial role in energy homeostasis. Unraveling the physiological, cellular and molecular mechanisms through which hormonal and neuroendocrine systems regulate energy balance has been a long-standing challenge in biology and is now more necessary when considering the world-wide increasing prevalence of obesity. Indeed, recognizing and understanding the biochemical and nutrient signaling pathways contributing to the nervous and endocrine integration of physiological mechanisms involved in the normal and/or abnormal regulation of energy balance is fundamental also to the development of new, effective, and targeted treatments for obesity. Recent studies have highlighted the role of hypothalamic pro-opiomelanocortin-expressing neurons in the regulation of energy homeostasis by controlling energy expenditure and food intake. This is accomplished through a precise balance of production and degradation of a-melanocyte-stimulating hormone, an anorexigenic neuropeptide which is degraded to an inactive form unable to inhibit food intake by the key enzyme prolyl carboxypeptidase (PRCP), thus suggesting that pharmacologic approaches targeting PRCP may provide a novel and effective option for the management of obesity and its associated metabolic disorders. Indeed, efforts have been made to generate potent, brain-penetrant PRCP inhibitors. Weight loss due to negative energy balance is a goal for obese subjects not always reachable by dietary caloric restriction or increased physical activity. Lipid-lowering therapies have been suggested to have potential benefits, however, the establishment of comprehensive therapeutic strategies is still awaited. Recently, it has been reported that thyroid hormone (TH)- derivatives such as 3,5-diiodothyronine and 3-iodothyronamine possess interesting biological activities, opening new perspectives in thyroid physiology and TH derivatives therapeutic usage. Moreover, several studies, focusing on the interaction between thyroid hormone (TH), the autonomic nervous system and the liver, revealed an important role for the hypothalamus in the differential effects of TH on autonomic outflow to peripheral organs controlling energy balance. This Research Topic aims to give a comprehensive and integrate view of the factors involved in the endocrine and neuroendocrine signaling in energy balance regulation to highlight their involvement into physiological processes and regulatory systems as well as their perturbation during pathological processes.

Uncoupling --- Mitochondria --- catch up fat --- brown adipose tissue --- Thyroid Hormones --- Lipid Metabolism --- energy balance --- Apelin --- melanocortin --- Adipogenesis

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It is clear that the melanocortins are of immense academic interest. Further, these molecules have remarkable potential as pharmaceutical agents for treatment of multiple human and veterinary disorders and diseases. The evidence to support academic interest and clinical applications lies in significant part within the chapters of this book, chapters written by noted experts in the field who have worked diligently to understand the molecules and to move them toward clinical applications. I personally believe that the - MSH molecule and its derivatives will be used as routine therapeutics in the very near future. My belief is so strong that I left academia to form a company based on -MSH analogs and have caused millions of dollars to be spent on melanocortin research. Now why would a sane professor pick up such a challenge and enter business, an essential step toward any clinical application? It is the - MSH story that drove me. Consider that - MSH occurs in exactly the same amino acid sequence in humans and in the sea lamprey, an organism unchanged since its appearance during the Pennsylvanian period of the Paleozoic era (about 300 million years ago—way before dinosaurs were to be considered). There is unpublished evidence that the stability of the molecule can be traced back a half billion years. Frankly, I believe that the molecule existed even when single cells began to live together.

MSH (Hormone). --- MSH (Hormone) --- Pro-Opiomelanocortin --- Receptors, Corticotropin --- Biological Science Disciplines --- Metabolic Phenomena --- Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled --- Receptors, Neuropeptide --- Hypothalamic Hormones --- Receptors, Pituitary Hormone --- Natural Science Disciplines --- Pituitary Hormones, Anterior --- Receptors, Cell Surface --- Phenomena and Processes --- Neuropeptides --- Receptors, Neurotransmitter --- Receptors, Peptide --- Disciplines and Occupations --- Pituitary Hormones --- Membrane Proteins --- Peptide Hormones --- Nerve Tissue Proteins --- Proteins --- Hormones --- Peptides --- Amino Acids, Peptides, and Proteins --- Hormones, Hormone Substitutes, and Hormone Antagonists --- Receptors, Melanocortin --- Melanocortins --- Metabolism --- Physiology --- Chemicals and Drugs --- Human Anatomy & Physiology --- Health & Biological Sciences --- Animal Biochemistry --- Intermedin --- Melanocortin --- Melanocyte stimulating hormone --- Melanotropin --- Medicine. --- Biomedicine. --- Biomedicine general. --- Clinical sciences --- Medical profession --- Human biology --- Life sciences --- Medical sciences --- Pathology --- Physicians --- Peptide hormones --- Proopiomelanocortin --- Health Workforce --- Biomedicine, general.