Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Research Highlight
  • Published:

Target validation

Target for the modern-day ills?

Nature Reviews Drug Discovery volume 1, page 661 (2002)Cite this article

Screening of a GPCR-biased compound collection led to the identification of SNAP-7941, a nanomolar inhibitor of MCHR1 that has 1,000-fold selectivity over the other receptor for MCH, and also over other GPCRs associated with food intake, such as the receptor for neuropeptide Y. Systemic pre-treatment with SNAP-7941 inhibited the increase in food intake elicited by MCH, supporting a role for MCHR1 in mediating MCH-stimulated food intake.

But would pharmacological blockade of MCHR1 reduce basal body weight, or would compensatory mechanisms come into play? The authors found that acute treatment with SNAP-7941 decreased palatable food intake in rats, and that chronic treatment resulted in a marked, sustained decrease in body weight in rats with diet-induced obesity, providing strong support that MCHR1 is a viable target for the treatment of obesity.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER

  1. Borowsky, B. et al. Antidepressant, anxiolytic and anorectic effects of a melanin-concentrating hormone-1 receptor antagonist. Nature Med. 2002 Jul 15 (doi: 10.1038/nm741)

Download references

Authors
  1. Peter Kirkpatrick
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kirkpatrick, P. Target for the modern-day ills?. Nat Rev Drug Discov 1, 661 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrd904

Download citation

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrd904

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing