A pound of food?! British scientists have discovered brain cells that cause appetite to soar.

Do you think there is any appetite reduction in Kant's team? It doesn't matter. Recently, a group of scientists just discovered that there is a kind of brain cell that can promote appetite.after stimulating the cells in the brain of mice, they quickly became "lonely gourmets" who ate momaxiang.} the study was published in the proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (image source: PNAs). Biologists from the University of Warwick in the UK brought the study.the first author, Dr. Matei bolorea, said that although the neural mechanisms that control appetite have been studied for decades, they now find an unexpected new player in this neural loop."in the future, these cells may become potential targets for regulating anorexia or overeating and play a therapeutic role."he said.these cells, called tanycytes, are glial cells that communicate with neurons in the brain and let the brain understand what we eat.previous studies have found that extensor cells are mainly distributed in the hypothalamus, the area of the brain responsible for energy control.they are distributed on the edge of the ventricles (the fluid filled chambers of the brain) and can "taste" the nutrients in the cerebrospinal fluid of the ventricles.when we eat more, the content of nutrients in cerebrospinal fluid is correspondingly higher.} the shape of tanycyte is special, some "tentacles" reach into cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to sense nutrition information, and some "tentacles" communicate with neurons (photo source: reference [1]). Researchers have found that extensor cells are particularly good at "tasting", and they have the same receptors as the receptors on the tongue taste buds used to sense amino acids (taste).the next key question is whether they can transmit these nutritional information to nearby appetite regulating neurons? And how does it affect energy consumption? For this reason, the researchers transferred light sensitive ion channels into some stretch cells, equivalent to activating them with special light control switches.they found that when extensor cells were activated, nearby nerve cells became active.and analyzing the identity of these nerve cells, extensor cells can open two different pathways in the hypothalamus to control food intake.} some of the stretch cells (red labeled) along the edge of the ventricle express light sensitive ion channels (green) that can be activated by light (photo sources: reference [2]; Credit: University of) What's interesting is that one pathway is related to increasing eating motivation, which calls us to "eat more"; the other is related to reducing eating motivation and increasing energy consumption, which are opposite to each other.in the words of the researchers, "the ability to stretch cells is confusing.".which signal will win? To confirm the effect of stretch cells activation on eating behavior, the researchers asked mice to be tested for food. the video observation results showed that after stimulating the extensor cells, the mice ate more and longer than the control group. that is to say, the urge to eat more outweighs the urge to eat less and consume more. } experiments in mice showed that when the extensor cells were stimulated, the animals had a large appetite in a short time (photo source: reference [1]) "the extensor cells respond to nutrients, thus promoting satiety, so we expect that when the extensor cells are stimulated, you will eat less. but surprisingly, it turned out to be eating more. "said Professor Nicholas Dale, who led the study. the researchers conclude that these findings establish a link between stretching cells and eating, and they will continue to explore what role they play in weight control in the long run. Title: 123rf reference [1] David Begley (2012) brain superhighways. Science Translational Medicine. Doi: [2] Matei bolorea et al, (2020) Hypothalamic tanycytes generate acute hyperphagia through activation of the arcuate neuronal network. PNAS. DOI: Tanycytes in the brain play an active role in increasing appetite. Retrieved June 9, 2020, from