Neuroscience and Neurobiology Commons^™

Neural Input Is Critical For Arcuate Hypothalamic Neurons To Mount Intracellular Signaling Responses To Systemic Insulin And Deoxyglucose Challenges In Male Rats: Implications For Communication Within Feeding And Metabolic Control Networks, Arshad Khan, Ellen Walker, Nicole Dominguez, Alan Watts

Arshad M. Khan, Ph.D.

The arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus (ARH) controls rat feeding behavior, in part, through peptidergic neurons projecting to the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVH). Hindbrain catecholaminergic (CA) neurons innervate both the PVH and ARH, and ablation of CA afferents to PVH neuroendocrine neurons prevents them from mounting cellular responses to systemic metabolic challenges such as insulin or 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG). Here, we asked whether ablating CA afferents also limits their ARH responses to the same challenges or alters ARH connectivity with the PVH. We examined ARH neurons for three features: (1) CA afferents, visualized by dopamine-β-hydroxylase-immunoreactivity (DBH-ir); (2) activation by systemic metabolic …