Melanocortin 4 receptors switch reward to aversion
Alexandra G. DiFeliceantonio1,2 and Paul J. Kenny1
1Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.
2Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Address correspondence to: Paul J. Kenny, Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 1470 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10029, USA. Phone: 212.824.8970; Email: paul.kenny@mssm.edu.
Find articles by DiFeliceantonio, A. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar
1Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.
2Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Address correspondence to: Paul J. Kenny, Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 1470 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10029, USA. Phone: 212.824.8970; Email: paul.kenny@mssm.edu.
Find articles by Kenny, P. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar
First published June 18, 2018 - More info
J Clin Invest. 2018;128(7):2757–2759. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI121653.
Copyright © 2018, American Society for Clinical Investigation
The ability to recognize and avoid noxious stimuli is essential for survival. The factors that determine whether a given stimulus is considered positive or negative are complex and not fully understood. In this issue of the JCI, Klawonn and colleagues demonstrate that melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4R) signaling is critical for proper responses to negative stimuli. Mice lacking MC4R were shown to have a surprising preference for aversive stimuli compared with WT animals. Moreover, the authors provide evidence that avoidance behaviors are mediated by hypothalamic POMC neurons signaling to striatal dopamine D1 receptor–expressing medium spiny neurons. Together, these results provide important insight into the regulation of responses to aversive stimuli.
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Copyright © 2018 American Society for Clinical Investigation
ISSN: 0021-9738 (print), 1558-8238 (online)