新一期Nature Genetics发表最新研究报告，解析6个新发现的基因，这6个新发现的基因通过影响神经中枢控制肥胖。
肥胖属于非健康状态，肥胖不仅影响体型美观还严重影响健康，比如说，肥胖者更容易患2型糖尿病和其他慢性代谢疾病。
研究小组通过全基因组关联分析法对32000个人进行分析，筛选出大量的与肥胖相关的变异，并获得6个新的肥胖基因。这6个基因分别是：TMEM18, KCTD15, GNPDA2, SH2B1, MTCH2, 和NEGR1。
基因表达分析发现，6个基因都是在脑细胞中具有活性，以前研究发现的两个基因FTO和MC4R也具有相似的特性。
德国国立基因组研究中心的教授表示，将通过其他的途径进一步研究这6个基因的功能。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推荐原始出处：
Nature Genetics 41, 25 - 34 (2008) Published online: 14 December 2008 | doi:10.1038/ng.287
Six new loci associated with body mass index highlight a neuronal influence on body weight regulation
Common variants at only two loci, FTO and MC4R, have been reproducibly associated with body mass index (BMI) in humans. To identify additional loci, we conducted meta-analysis of 15 genome-wide association studies for BMI (n > 32,000) and followed up top signals in 14 additional cohorts (n > 59,000). We strongly confirm FTO and MC4R and identify six additional loci (P < 5 10-8): TMEM18, KCTD15, GNPDA2, SH2B1, MTCH2 and NEGR1 (where a 45-kb deletion polymorphism is a candidate causal variant). Several of the likely causal genes are highly expressed or known to act in the central nervous system (CNS), emphasizing, as in rare monogenic forms of obesity, the role of the CNS in predisposition to obesity.
