Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified SNPs of the fat mass and obesity (FTO) gene as the most important risk alleles for obesity. However, how the presence of risk alleles affect phenotype is still a matter of intense investigation. In 2014, a study revealed that long-range enhancers from the intronic regions of the FTO gene regulate iroquois-class homeobox protein (IRX)3 expression. IRX3 is expressed in hypothalamic pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons and changes in its expression levels affect body adiposity by modifying food intake and energy expenditure. These findings have placed IRX3 as a potential target for the treatment of obesity. Here, we review studies that evaluated the roles of IRX3 in development, neurogenesis, and body energy homeostasis.

中文翻译：

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下丘脑 IRX3：肥胖发展的新参与者

全基因组关联研究 (GWAS) 已将脂肪量和肥胖 (FTO) 基因的 SNP 确定为肥胖最重要的风险等位基因。然而，风险等位基因的存在如何影响表型仍然是一个深入研究的问题。2014 年，一项研究表明，来自 FTO 基因内含子区域的长程增强子调节易洛魁类同源框蛋白 (IRX)3 的表达。IRX3 在下丘脑阿片黑素前体 (POMC) 神经元中表达，其表达水平的变化通过改变食物摄入和能量消耗来影响身体肥胖。这些发现使 IRX3 成为治疗肥胖症的潜在靶点。在这里，我们回顾了评估 IRX3 在发育、神经发生和身体能量稳态中的作用的研究。