Undergraduate Program and School of Life Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, 201210, China.
Undergraduate Program and School of Life Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, 201210, China; Institute of Neuroscience, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200031, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
J Genet Genomics. 2019 Jan 20;46(1):31-40. doi: 10.1016/j.jgg.2018.11.004. Epub 2019 Jan 26.
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays a crucial role in human obesity. Yet, the neural circuitry supporting the BDNF-mediated control of energy homeostasis remains largely undefined. To map key regions that might provide inputs to or receive inputs from the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) BDNF neurons, a key type of cells in regulating feeding and thermogenesis, we used rabies virus-based transsynaptic labeling and adeno-associated virus based anterograde tracing techniques to reveal their whole-brain distributions. We found that dozens of brain regions provide dense inputs to or receive dense inputs from PVN BDNF neurons, including several known weight control regions and several novel regions that might be functionally important for the BDNF-mediated regulation of energy homeostasis. Interestingly, several regions show very dense reciprocal connections with PVN BDNF neurons, including the lateral septum, the preoptic area, the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus, the paraventricular thalamic nucleus, the zona incerta, the lateral parabrachial nucleus, the subiculum, the raphe magnus nucleus, and the raphe pallidus nucleus. These strong anatomical connections might be indicative of important functional connections. Therefore, we provide an outline of potential neural circuitry mediated by PVN BDNF neurons, which might be helpful to resolve the complex obesity network.
脑源性神经营养因子（BDNF）在人类肥胖中起着至关重要的作用。然而，支持 BDNF 介导的能量平衡控制的神经回路在很大程度上仍未得到明确。为了绘制可能向室旁核（PVN）BDNF 神经元提供输入或从其接收输入的关键区域图谱，我们使用基于狂犬病毒的顺行转导标记和腺相关病毒的顺行示踪技术来揭示它们在全脑中的分布。我们发现数十个脑区向 PVN BDNF 神经元提供密集的输入或从其接收密集的输入，包括几个已知的体重控制区域和几个可能对 BDNF 介导的能量平衡调节具有功能重要性的新区域。有趣的是，几个区域与 PVN BDNF 神经元显示出非常密集的互传连接，包括外侧隔核、视前区、腹内侧下丘脑核、室旁丘脑核、未定带、外侧臂旁核、下托、中缝大核和中缝苍白核。这些强大的解剖连接可能表明存在重要的功能连接。因此，我们提供了由 PVN BDNF 神经元介导的潜在神经回路的概述，这可能有助于解析复杂的肥胖网络。
