The cover picture shows a computer model of the crystal structure of leptin, a 16 kDa hormone produced by adipose tissue that is important in the regulation of energy balance, glucose metabolism, reproduction and immune function. The original leptin mutant mouse was first identified at the Jackson Laboratory (Bar Harbor, ME, USA) in 1949. In a series of papers featured in Diabetologia in 1973, the involvement of leptin in obesity and diabetes was correctly postulated by D.L. Coleman and K.P Hummel through use of a parabiosis model. Leptin was later cloned in 1994 by J.M. Friedman and colleagues. In the present issue of Diabetologia (55: 3–6) Grayson and Seeley comment on the impact of these experiments on the study of metabolic disease.
Cover credit: PASIEKA/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
Download the high resolution cover image