@entity3237 is a hormone produced in adipose cells that regulates energy expenditure, food intake, and adiposity. In @entity19 , we observed that circulating @entity3237 levels increase 20-40-fold during pregnancy. Pregnant ob/ob females had no detectable serum @entity3237 , demonstrating that the heterozygous conceptus was not the source of the @entity3237 . However, @entity3237 RNA and protein levels in maternal adipose tissue were not elevated. The circulating @entity3237 was in a high molecular weight complex, suggesting that the rise in @entity3237 was due to expression of a binding protein. Indeed, quantitative assays of serum @entity3237 binding capacity revealed a 40-fold increase, coincident with the rise in serum @entity3237 . @entity3237 binding activity reached a capacity of 207 +/- 15 nmol/liter of serum at day 18 of gestation, and half-maximal binding was observed with approximately 3 nM @entity3237 . The binding protein was purified and partially sequenced, revealing sequence identity to the extracellular domain of the @entity18070 . We found that the placenta produces large amounts of the OB-Re isoform of @entity18070 mRNA, which encodes a soluble binding protein. Thus, the extreme hyperleptinemia of late pregnancy is attributable to binding of the @entity3237 by a secreted form of the @entity18070 made by the placenta.

Hyperleptinemia of pregnancy associated with the appearance of a circulating form of the XXXX .

@entity19 :: ('10090', 'Species') :: ['mice'] @entity18070 :: ('16847(Tax:10090)', 'Gene') :: ['leptin receptor'] @entity3237 :: ('16846(Tax:10090)', 'Gene') :: ['Leptin', 'leptin']
@entity18070 :: (16847(Tax:10090),Gene) :: ['leptin receptor']
