<p>I came across <a href="https://dpcpsi.nih.gov/sites/default/files/2020NutritionStrategicPlan_508.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">The 2020–2030 Strategic Plan for NIH Nutrition Research</a>, curious after a lecture in nutritional genomics.</p>
<p>I read a couple of papers:</p>
<ul>
<li>Ilnytska, O., &amp; Argyropoulos, G. (2008). <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2748318/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">The role of the Agouti-Related Protein in energy balance regulation.</a> Cellular and molecular life sciences, 65(17), 2721.</li>
<li>Cai, M., &amp; J Hruby, V. (2016). <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5999398/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">The melanocortin receptor system: a target for multiple degenerative diseases.</a> Current Protein and Peptide Science, 17(5), 488-496.</li>
<li>Fan, W., Boston, B. A., Kesterson, R. A., Hruby, V. J., &amp; Cone, R. D. (1997). <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8990120/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Role of melanocortinergic neurons in feeding and the agouti obesity syndrome.</a> Nature, 385(6612), 165-168.</li>
</ul>
<p>In the papers all I have read is that αMSH binding to MC4R has anorexiant effects. But, I can't find <em>how</em>.</p>
<p><strong>How does αMSH binding to MC4R create a feeling of satiety (anorexiant effects in general)?</strong></p>
<p>Rewording the question: what are the changes in the neuron's membrane after αMSH binds to the receptor, or inside the cell itself, how does this translate to anorexiant effects?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-07-22T09:02:40.927Z
@Steven Jeuris Thank you earnestly for the rewording/formatting. It looks so much better.
George Ntoulos
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-07-22T13:17:15.460Z
You are welcome. :) One thing you could do to further improve the question is better link the resources to your actual question. How are they related? What did you read that you understood, or what did you read which you didn't understand that made you ask this question?
Steven Jeuris
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-07-22T14:31:19.113Z
@StevenJeuris My problem with the papers is not that I failed to understand something but that it doesn't answer the question. It has purportedly been observed that αMSH binding to MC4R has anorexiant effects. The problem is that you can't directly observe the feeling of another person (you can only see how they act and you make your conclusions based on that or ask them and hope they answer the truth exactly and precisely) we have a difficulty having a magnetic resonance spectroscopy at that level (receptor and peptide size) especially while observing their behavior.
George Ntoulos
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-07-22T14:40:55.160Z
@StevenJeuris Not to mention that NMR is not a microscope. Imaging Studies(BOLD, Spectroscopy etc) are a step back (we aren't willing to risk a person's life by shoehorning a microscope inside their head while we are observing their behavior like tendency to open the fridge etc). We can't directly observe their feelings (we infer it otherwise), we can't even observe αMSH binding to MC4R when they purportedly feel this satiety (we recruit the help of statistics). And we have the adage Correlation does not Mean Causation.
George Ntoulos
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-07-22T14:44:10.863Z
@StevenJeuris I can't find anywhere the answer to how does αMSH binding to MC4R has anorexiant effects)? I don't think there is anything I have missed in this papers. In the papers all I have read is that αMSH binding to MC4R has anorexiant effects. I am asking "Ok but How".
George Ntoulos
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-07-22T15:22:56.400Z
@GeorgeNtoulos Those are extremely different questions and it's easy to have an answer to one without the other. To test "does αMSH binding to MC4R have anorexiant effects" you just need to be able to add αMSH and block it at the MC4R receptor and measure either appetite or food intake. You do not need to understand any mechanism to make those measurements. The mechanism question is very difficult and may not be easily answered by any experiment.
Bryan Krause
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-07-22T15:24:46.567Z
For another example, consider acetaminophen. Very popular drug, very effective at pain relief. After decades of extensive study, **we still do not know how acetaminophen relieves pain**. This part: "what are the changes in the neuron's membrane after αMSH binds to the receptor, or inside the cell itself" seems very likely answerable to me. "how does this translate to anorexiant effects" may be much more difficult, depending on the level of analysis you are expecting.
Bryan Krause
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-07-22T16:26:34.247Z
@BryanKrause Is there any way to measure appetite directly as opposed to infering it from food intake or asking a person to answer questionaries? There is not only 1 neuron nor does the cell membrane of the neurons have MC4R. The level of analysis I expect is a paragraph for each part of the question (since the second part is more difficult I could see 2 paragraphs for the second part to total 3). With Acetaminophen at least you can see a person taking it right before your eyes or even inject it intravenously yourself.
George Ntoulos
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-07-22T16:39:40.247Z
@GeorgeNtoulos "Is there any way to measure appetite directly" - No.
Bryan Krause
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-07-23T09:06:28.630Z
@BryanKrause I think these comments could easily constitute an answer. Sometimes a "there is no clear answer" (yet) _is_ the answer. :)
Steven Jeuris
<neuroscience><cognitive-neuroscience><personality><motivation><neurophysiology>
anorexiant αMSH
George Ntoulos
# anorexiant αMSH

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-05-24)

I came across [The 2020–2030 Strategic Plan for NIH Nutrition Research](https://dpcpsi.nih.gov/sites/default/files/2020NutritionStrategicPlan_508.pdf), curious after a lecture in nutritional genomics.

I read a couple of papers:

* Ilnytska, O., & Argyropoulos, G. (2008). [The role of the Agouti-Related Protein in energy balance regulation.](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2748318/) Cellular and molecular life sciences, 65(17), 2721.
* Cai, M., & J Hruby, V. (2016). [The melanocortin receptor system: a target for multiple degenerative diseases.](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5999398/) Current Protein and Peptide Science, 17(5), 488-496.
* Fan, W., Boston, B. A., Kesterson, R. A., Hruby, V. J., & Cone, R. D. (1997). [Role of melanocortinergic neurons in feeding and the agouti obesity syndrome.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8990120/) Nature, 385(6612), 165-168.

In the papers all I have read is that αMSH binding to MC4R has anorexiant effects. But, I can't find *how*.

**How does αMSH binding to MC4R create a feeling of satiety (anorexiant effects in general)?**

Rewording the question: what are the changes in the neuron's membrane after αMSH binds to the receptor, or inside the cell itself, how does this translate to anorexiant effects?

**Tags:** neuroscience, cognitive-neuroscience, personality, motivation, neurophysiology

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: @username_1 Thank you earnestly for the rewording/formatting. It looks so much better.  
> **username_1**: You are welcome. :) One thing you could do to further improve the question is better link the resources to your actual question. How are they related? What did you read that you understood, or what did you read which you didn't understand that made you ask this question?  
> **username_0**: @StevenJeuris My problem with the papers is not that I failed to understand something but that it doesn't answer the question. It has purportedly been observed that αMSH binding to MC4R has anorexiant effects. The problem is that you can't directly observe the feeling of another person (you can only see how they act and you make your conclusions based on that or ask them and hope they answer the truth exactly and precisely) we have a difficulty having a magnetic resonance spectroscopy at that level (receptor and peptide size) especially while observing their behavior.  
> **username_0**: @StevenJeuris Not to mention that NMR is not a microscope. Imaging Studies(BOLD, Spectroscopy etc) are a step back (we aren't willing to risk a person's life by shoehorning a microscope inside their head while we are observing their behavior like tendency to open the fridge etc). We can't directly observe their feelings (we infer it otherwise), we can't even observe αMSH binding to MC4R when they purportedly feel this satiety (we recruit the help of statistics). And we have the adage Correlation does not Mean Causation.  
> **username_0**: @StevenJeuris I can't find anywhere the answer to how does αMSH binding to MC4R has anorexiant effects)? I don't think there is anything I have missed in this papers. In the papers all I have read is that αMSH binding to MC4R has anorexiant effects. I am asking "Ok but How".  
> **username_2**: @GeorgeNtoulos Those are extremely different questions and it's easy to have an answer to one without the other. To test "does αMSH binding to MC4R have anorexiant effects" you just need to be able to add αMSH and block it at the MC4R receptor and measure either appetite or food intake. You do not need to understand any mechanism to make those measurements. The mechanism question is very difficult and may not be easily answered by any experiment.  
> **username_2**: For another example, consider acetaminophen. Very popular drug, very effective at pain relief. After decades of extensive study, **we still do not know how acetaminophen relieves pain**. This part: "what are the changes in the neuron's membrane after αMSH binds to the receptor, or inside the cell itself" seems very likely answerable to me. "how does this translate to anorexiant effects" may be much more difficult, depending on the level of analysis you are expecting.  
> **username_0**: @BryanKrause Is there any way to measure appetite directly as opposed to infering it from food intake or asking a person to answer questionaries? There is not only 1 neuron nor does the cell membrane of the neurons have MC4R. The level of analysis I expect is a paragraph for each part of the question (since the second part is more difficult I could see 2 paragraphs for the second part to total 3). With Acetaminophen at least you can see a person taking it right before your eyes or even inject it intravenously yourself.  
> **username_2**: @GeorgeNtoulos "Is there any way to measure appetite directly" - No.  
> **username_1**: @BryanKrause I think these comments could easily constitute an answer. Sometimes a "there is no clear answer" (yet) _is_ the answer. :)  

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## 0 answers

