Angela van Daal
Angela van Daal
Associate Professor
Bond University
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Mouse models of obesity
Carroll Levi, Queensland University of Technology; Joanne Voisey, Queensland University of Technology; and Angela Van Daal, Queensland University of Technology
DATE: October 2004
SOURCE: Clinics in Dermatology , Vol 22 (4) pp. 345-9
RELATED URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.clindermatol.2004.01.004
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Postprint:
Voisey J, L Carroll and A Van Daal (2004) Mouse Models of Obesity. Clinics in Dermatology 22(4) 345-9
This article is published by Elsevier Ltd
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ABSTRACT:
Insights into the etiology of human obesity have arisen from the study of animal models. Animal models of obesity are also important for the development of future treatments of obesity. An agouti mouse mutation resulting in obese, yellow mice was described over a century ago and in 1992 agouti was cloned, making it the first obesity gene characterized at the molecular level. The lethal yellow mouse mutation is one of five dominant agouti mutations and is an excellent model for human obesity. The molecular categorization of agouti was responsible for the elucidation of the melanocortin system's involvement in hypothalamic weight regulation. As genetic knowledge increases many transgenic mice have been created with genes either over-expressed or deleted, models which further enhance the understanding of obesity.