Role of melanocortinergic neurons in feeding and the agouti obesity syndrome

DOMINANT alleles at the agouti locus (A) cause an obesity syndrome in the mouse, as a consequence of ectopic expression of the agouti peptide^1-6. This peptide, normally only found in the skin, is a high-affinity antagonist of the melanocyte-stimulating hormone receptor (MC1-R)⁷, thus explaining the inhibitory effect of agouti on eumelanin pigment synthesis. The agouti peptide is also an antagonist of the hypothalamic melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4-R)^7-9. To test the hypothesis that agouti causes obesity by antagonism of hypothalamic melanocortin receptors⁷, we identified cyclic melanocortin analogues¹⁰ that are potent agonists or antagonists of the neural MC3 (refs 11, 12) and MC4 receptors. Intracerebroventricular administration of the agonist, MTII, inhibited feeding in four models of hyperphagia: fasted C57BL/6J, ob/ob, and A^Y mice, and mice injected with neuropeptide Y. Co-administration of the specific melanocortin antagonist and agouti-mimetic SHU9119 completely blocked this inhibition. Furthermore, administration of SHU9119 significantly enhanced nocturnal feeding, or feeding stimulated by a prior fast. Our data show that melanocortinergic neurons exert a tonic inhibition of feeding behaviour. Chronic disruption of this inhibitory signal is a likely explanation of the agouti obesity syndrome.