PNOC Neurons Promote Hyperphagia and Obesity upon High-Fat-Diet Feeding.

Calorie-rich diets induce hyperphagia and promote obesity, although the underlying mechanisms remain poorly defined. We find that short-term high-fat-diet (HFD) feeding of mice activates prepronociceptin (PNOC)-expressing neurons in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus (ARC). PNOC neurons represent a previously unrecognized GABAergic population of ARC neurons distinct from well-defined feeding regulatory AgRP or POMC neurons.

Molecular mechanism for the control of virulent Toxoplasma gondii infections in wild-derived mice.

Some strains of the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii (such as RH) are virulent in laboratory mice because they are not restricted by the Immunity-Related GTPase (IRG) resistance system in these mouse strains. In some wild-derived Eurasian mice (such as CIM) on the other hand, polymorphic IRG proteins inhibit the replication of such virulent T. gondii strains.

Rapid Generation of Long Noncoding RNA Knockout Mice Using CRISPR/Cas9 Technology.

In recent years, long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have emerged as multifaceted regulators of gene expression, controlling key developmental and disease pathogenesis processes. However, due to the paucity of lncRNA loss-of-function mouse models, key questions regarding the involvement of lncRNAs in organism homeostasis and (patho)-physiology remain difficult to address experimentally in vivo. The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas9 platform provides a powerful genome-editing tool and has been successfully applied across model organisms to facilitate targeted genetic mutations, including , , and .