About Leptin
This gene encodes a protein that is secreted by white adipocytes into the circulation and plays a major role in the regulation of energy homeostasis. Circulating leptin binds to the leptin receptor in the brain, which activates downstream signaling pathways that inhibit feeding and promote energy expenditure. This protein also has several endocrine functions, and is involved in the regulation of immune and inflammatory responses, hematopoiesis, angiogenesis, reproduction, bone formation and wound healing. Mutations in this gene and its regulatory regions cause severe obesity and morbid obesity with hypogonadism in human patients. A mutation in this gene has also been linked to type 2 diabetes mellitus development. [provided by RefSeq, Aug 2017]

About FITC
Fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) has an excitation peak at 495 nm and an emission peak at 519 nm. The name FITC is a misnomer in that the isothiocyanate is a reactive form of this dye. Once FITC is conjugated to an antibody, it is simply Fluorescein conjugated. FITC is one of the most widely used dyes for fluorescent applications, therefore most instruments come standard with a 488 nm laser and FITC filter set up. FITC is commonly conjugated to secondary antibodies and used in applications such as flow cytometry, immunocytochemistry, and immunohistochemistry. FITC is relatively dim, sensitive to photobleaching and it is susceptible to changes is pH. There are better performing alternatives to FITC, like Vio®Bright 515, Alexa Fluor™ 488, iFluor® 488, CF®488A and DY-488. FITC is a long-time generic dye with no sole manufacturer or trademark.