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A hypothalamic circuit that controls body temperature
- Source :
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 114(8)
- Publication Year :
- 2017
-
Abstract
- The homeostatic control of body temperature is essential for survival in mammals and is known to be regulated in part by temperature-sensitive neurons in the hypothalamus. However, the specific neural pathways and corresponding neural populations have not been fully elucidated. To identify these pathways, we used cFos staining to identify neurons that are activated by a thermal challenge and found induced expression in subsets of neurons within the ventral part of the lateral preoptic nucleus (vLPO) and the dorsal part of the dorsomedial hypothalamus (DMD). Activation of GABAergic neurons in the vLPO using optogenetics reduced body temperature, along with a decrease in physical activity. Optogenetic inhibition of these neurons resulted in fever-level hyperthermia. These GABAergic neurons project from the vLPO to the DMD and optogenetic stimulation of the nerve terminals in the DMD also reduced body temperature and activity. Electrophysiological recording revealed that the vLPO GABAergic neurons suppressed neural activity in DMD neurons, and fiber photometry of calcium transients revealed that DMD neurons were activated by cold. Accordingly, activation of DMD neurons using designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs (DREADDs) or optogenetics increased body temperature with a strong increase in energy expenditure and activity. Finally, optogenetic inhibition of DMD neurons triggered hypothermia, similar to stimulation of the GABAergic neurons in the vLPO. Thus, vLPO GABAergic neurons suppressed the thermogenic effect of DMD neurons. In aggregate, our data identify vLPO→DMD neural pathways that reduce core temperature in response to a thermal challenge, and we show that outputs from the DMD can induce activity-induced thermogenesis.
- Subjects :
- musculoskeletal diseases
0301 basic medicine
Hyperthermia
congenital, hereditary, and neonatal diseases and abnormalities
Hot Temperature
Dorsomedial Hypothalamic Nucleus
Stimulation
Hypothermia
Biology
Optogenetics
Photometry
03 medical and health sciences
Mice
0302 clinical medicine
Neural Pathways
medicine
Animals
GABAergic Neurons
Receptor
Multidisciplinary
Correction
Thermogenesis
medicine.disease
Immunohistochemistry
Preoptic Area
Electrophysiological Phenomena
Cold Temperature
Electrophysiology
030104 developmental biology
nervous system
Hypothalamus
GABAergic
Calcium
Neuroscience
Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos
030217 neurology & neurosurgery
Homeostasis
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 10916490
- Volume :
- 114
- Issue :
- 8
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....a020b40084d0145805539fa4bf3411e1