Our Research
Our group works on understanding the central control of energy homeostasis. The laboratory concentrates on the central melanocortin system, a complex set of neural circuits they have demonstrated to regulate a variety of physiological processes important to energy storage.
The melanocortin system plays a critical role in the long-term regulation of body weight, and has profound implications for human health and disease — including in obesity and the wasting that occurs in cancer patients.
Roger Cone, Ph.D.
News
New research uncovers a path to lowering obesity in mice by increasing the effects of a key weight-regulating hormone
A new study led by the LSI demonstrates that blocking the activity of an enzyme inside fat cells can decrease obesity and related health disorders in mice.
Protein in the brain uses energy status to influence maturation, body size, new research shows
Scientists have identified how a protein in the brain uses information about the body’s energy balance to regulate growth rate and the onset of puberty in children.
Scientists find new point of access for targeting eating disorders and obesity
Scientists have identified a protein called the melanocortin 3 receptor as a potential drug target for treating obesity and eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa.
Publication Highlights
Sweeney PW, Bedenbaugh MN, Maldonado J, Pan P, Fowler K, Williams SY, Gimenez LE, Ghamari-Langroudi M, Downing G, Gui Y, Hadley CK, Joy ST, Mapp AK, Simerly RB, Cone RD (2021)
Ghamari-Langroudi M, Digby GJ, Sebag JA, Millhauser GL, Palomino R, Matthews R, Gillyard T, Panaro BL, Tough IR, Cox HM, Denton JS, Cone RD, Nature (2015)
Hatoum IJ, Stylopoulos N, Vanhoose AM, Boyd KL, Yin DP, Ellacott KL, Ma LL, Blaszczyk K, Keogh JM, Cone RD, Farooqi IS, Kaplan LM, J. Clin. End. Metab. (2012)
Huszar D, Lynch CA, Fairchild-Huntress V, Dunmore JH, Fang Q, Berkemeier LR, Gu W, Kesterson RA, Boston BA, Cone RD, Smith FJ, Campfield LA, Burn P, Lee F, Cell (1997)
Fan W, Boston BA, Kesterson RA, Hruby VJ, Cone RD, Nature (1997)
Lu, D, Willard, D, Patel, IR, Kadwell, S, Overton, L, Kost, T, Luther, M, Chen, W, Woychik, P, Wilkison, W.O, and Cone, RD, Nature (1994)
Mountjoy KG, Robbins LS, Mortrud MT, Cone RD, Science (1992)