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Project

The story of adenosine-5’-monophosphate-activated protein kinase in chickens continued: identification of downstream signaling pathways.

The discovery that adenosine-5’-monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) functions as a cellular fuel gauge has led to the introduction of novel concepts in our understanding of the regulation of the energy balance of mammals. This heterotrimeric enzyme is activated when the intracellular ATP: AMP ratio declines. Consequently, activated AMPK initiates peripheral catabolic processes while inhibiting anabolic, energy-consuming processes. Furthermore, AMPK is also implicated in the hypothalamic control of food intake and energy expenditure. We have already demonstrated that hypothalamic AMPK is undoubtedly implicated in the mechanistic regulation of the energy homeostasis in chickens. However, the downstream signaling pathways are yet a total enigma in this species. Three possible downstream pathways of AMPK will be explored: 1) involvement of hypothalamic first and second order (an)orexigenic peptides; 2) malonyl-CoA and long-chain fatty acid CoA concentrations; and 3) the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway. As the energy balance consists of the two components energy intake and energy expenditure, the rol of AMPK in the latter component will also be investigated. The rationale for using chickens is (1) no information on the downstream pathways of AMPK; (2) that meat-type chickens are also confronted with obesity and inherent metabolic diseases and remediating therapies become urgen;t and 3) poultry can be an interesting model species for human studies

Date:1 Jan 2015 →  31 Dec 2018
Keywords:Kip, Adenosine-5-monophosphate
Disciplines:Animal biology