什么是ob/ob mice

什么是ob/ob mice

以下是维基百科原文，大致意思是说，这是一种特别暴食，肥胖，常用于二型糖尿病动物模型的老鼠。它们有这种特征是因为一个基因变异，当时是研究所里面的老鼠偶然发生的变异。这个基因是肥胖荷尔蒙(Leptin)，又名瘦素，肥胖回馈荷尔蒙，是一种新近发现的蛋白质荷尔蒙。它的功用是加快生物的新陈代谢，抑制食欲，控制体重。

The ob/ob or obese mouse is a mutant mouse that eats excessively and becomes profoundly obese. It is an animal model of type II diabetes. Identification of the gene mutated in ob led to the discovery of the hormone leptin, which is important in the control of appetite.

The first ob/ob mouse arose by chance in a colony at the Jackson Laboratory in 1949.[1] The mutation is recessive. Mutant mice are indistinguishable from their unaffected littermates at birth, but gain weight rapidly throughout their lives, reaching a weight three times that of unaffected mice. ob/ob mice develop high blood sugar, despite an enlargement of the pancreatic islets and increased levels of insulin.[2]

The gene affected by the ob mutation was identified by positional cloning.[3] The gene produces a hormone, called leptin, that is produced predominantly in adipose tissue. One role of leptin is to regulate appetite by signalling to the brain that the animal has had enough to eat.[4] Since the ob/ob mouse cannot produce leptin, its food intake is uncontrolled by this mechanism.