# VTA MC3R neurons in the control of feeding and body weight

> **NIH NIH R01** · GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $378,750

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT:
Obesity is a significant problem, with ~70% of the US population considered overweight or obese and
estimated annual medical and economic costs >100 billion, yet there are few effective therapies currently
available to combat obesity. The intake of appetizing high fat/high sugar foods has increased in parallel to the
increased incidence of obesity, suggesting that targeting the pathways controlling the intake of these foods
may be a viable mechanism for combating obesity. The mesolimbic dopamine system is the primary neural
circuit controlling motivation and reward-related behavior, including the motivational and rewarding aspects of
high fat/high sugar foods, and changes in dopamine circuits have been implicated in obesity. The
melanocortin system is a neural circuit that plays in important role in controlling feeding and body weight, and it
appears to interact with dopamine circuits to control feeding, in part through actions on MC3Rs in the ventral
tegmental area (VTA). Overall, we have a poor understanding of how dopamine circuits control feeding
however, including how melanocortin circuits and MC3Rs interact with dopamine circuits to control feeding and
body weight. As both dopamine circuits and MC3Rs have been implicated in human obesity, these combined
circuits may be an excellent target for potential future approaches to combat obesity. Therefore, increasing our
currently limited understanding of how MC3Rs and VTA MC3R neurons interact with dopamine circuits to
control feeding will greatly advance our ability to combat obesity. The central hypothesis of this proposal is
that VTA MC3R neurons integrate information from multiple different neurotransmitters released from
proopiomelanocortin (POMC) and agouti-related protein (AgRP) neurons to decrease feeding through the
combined release of dopamine and glutamate in a restricted set of efferent target regions. This hypothesis will
be tested in two specific aims. In Aim 1, advanced anatomical and electrophysiological approaches will be
combined with in vivo optogenetics to test the hypothesis that POMC and AgRP neurons act in the VTA to
control feeding and body weight by releasing multiple neurotransmitters that regulate the activity of VTA MC3R
neurons. In Aim 2, anatomical approaches will be combined with in vivo optogenetics and DREADDs to test
the hypothesis that VTA MC3R neurons directly control feeding through the combined release of dopamine
and glutamate in specific efferent target regions. This project will significantly advance our understanding of
the neural mechanisms controlling feeding and body weight and the development of obesity, and ultimately,
this knowledge may allow for the identification of new strategies to treat and/or prevent obesity.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10101647
- **Project number:** 5R01DK115503-04
- **Recipient organization:** GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Aaron G Roseberry
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $378,750
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-02-01 → 2023-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10101647

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10101647, VTA MC3R neurons in the control of feeding and body weight (5R01DK115503-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10101647. Licensed CC0.

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