Cell type-specific transcriptomics of hypothalamic energy-sensing neuron responses to weight-loss
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, United States
- Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology, United Kingdom
Abstract
Molecular and cellular processes in neurons are critical for sensing and responding to energy deficit states, such as during weight-loss. AGRP neurons are a key hypothalamic population that is activated during energy deficit and increases appetite and weight-gain. Cell type-specific transcriptomics can be used to identify pathways that counteract weight-loss, and here we report high-quality gene expression profiles of AGRP neurons from well-fed and food-deprived young adult mice. For comparison, we also analyzed POMC neurons, an intermingled population that suppresses appetite and body weight. We find that AGRP neurons are considerably more sensitive to energy deficit than POMC neurons. Furthermore, we identify cell type-specific pathways involving endoplasmic reticulum-stress, circadian signaling, ion channels, neuropeptides, and receptors. Combined with methods to validate and manipulate these pathways, this resource greatly expands molecular insight into neuronal regulation of body weight, and may be useful for devising therapeutic strategies for obesity and eating disorders.
Article and author information
Author details
Reviewing Editor
- Joel K Elmquist, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, United States
Ethics
Animal experimentation: All experimental protocols were conducted according to U.S. National Institutes of Health guidelines for animal research and approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee at Janelia Research Campus under protocol number 13-92. Experiments conducted in the UK were licensed (PPL 70/7652) under the UK Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act of 1986 following local ethical approval. All surgery was performed under isoflurance anesthesia to minimize suffering.
Version history
- Received: July 1, 2015
- Accepted: September 2, 2015
- Accepted Manuscript published: September 2, 2015 (version 1)
- Version of Record published: October 8, 2015 (version 2)
Copyright
© 2015, Henry et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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Cell type-specific transcriptomics of hypothalamic energy-sensing neuron responses to weight-loss
eLife 4:e09800.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.09800
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