Carmo-Silva, SaraNóbrega, Cléviode Almeida, Luís PereiraCavadas, Cláudia2019-11-202019-11-202017-041043-2760http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/13182Ataxin-2 is a polyglutamine protein implicated in several biological processes such as RNA metabolism and cytoskeleton reorganization. Ataxin-2 is highly expressed in various tissues including the hypothalamus, a brain region that controls food intake and energy balance. Ataxin-2 expression is influenced by nutritional status. Emerging studies discussed here now show that ataxin-2 deficiency correlates with insulin resistance and dyslipidemia, an action mediated via the mTOR pathway, suggesting that ataxin-2 might play key roles in metabolic homeostasis including body weight regulation, insulin sensitivity, and cellular stress responses. In this review we also discuss the relevance of ataxin-2 in the hypothalamic regulation of energy balance, and its potential as a therapeutic target in metabolic disorders such as obesity.engLength polyglutamine expansionsTerm olfactory habituationGenome wide associationChain amino-acidsStress granulesSaccharomyces-cerevisiaeCaenorhabditis elegansDrosophila homologProtein expressionGene expressionjournal article10.1016/j.tem.2016.12.006