Nature Communications (Feb 2017)

Sex differences in microglial CX3CR1 signalling determine obesity susceptibility in mice

  • Mauricio D. Dorfman,
  • Jordan E. Krull,
  • John D. Douglass,
  • Rachael Fasnacht,
  • Fernando Lara-Lince,
  • Thomas H. Meek,
  • Xiaogang Shi,
  • Vincent Damian,
  • Hong T. Nguyen,
  • Miles E. Matsen,
  • Gregory J. Morton,
  • Joshua P. Thaler

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms14556
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8, no. 1
pp. 1 – 11

Abstract

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Unlike males, female mice are resistant to hypothalamic inflammation and weight gain when fed a high-fat diet. Here, the authors reveal sex-specific regulation of hypothalamic microglial activation through CX3CR1 signalling, providing a potential mechanism for differential susceptibility to diet-induced obesity.