Research Article Analyzing the Role of Receptor Internalization in the Regulation of Melanin-Concentrating Hormone Signaling

Copyright © 2013 Jay I. Moden et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The regulation of appetite is complex, though our understanding of the process is improving. The potential role for the melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) signaling pathway in the treatment of obesity is being explored by many. It was hypothesized that internalization of MCH receptors would act to potently desensitize cells to MCH. Despite potent desensitization of ERK signaling by MCH in BHK-570 cells, we were unable to observe MCH-mediated internalization of MCH receptor 1 (MCHR1) by fluorescence microscopy. A more quantitative approach using a cell-based ELISA indicated only 15 % of receptors internalized, which is much lower than that reported in the literature. Whe