Inhibitory actions of melanin‐concentrating hormone in the lateral septum
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Abstract Melanin‐concentrating hormone (MCH) neurons can co‐express several neuropeptides or neurotransmitters and send widespread projections throughout the brain. Notably, there is a dense cluster of nerve terminals from MCH neurons in the lateral septum (LS) that innervate LS cells by glutamate release. The LS is also a key region integrating stress‐ and anxiety‐like behaviours, which are also emerging roles of MCH neurons. However, it is not known if or where the MCH peptide acts within the LS. We analysed the projections from MCH neurons in male and female mice anteroposteriorly throughout the LS and found spatial overlap between the distribution pattern of MCH‐immunoreactive (MCH‐ir) fibres with MCH receptor Mchr1 mRNA hybridization or MCHR1‐ir cells. This overlap was most prominent along the ventral and lateral border of the rostral part of the LS (LSr). Most MCHR1‐labelled LS neurons lay adjacent to passing MCH‐ir fibres, but some MCH‐ir varicosities directly contacted the soma or cilium of MCHR1‐labelled LS neurons. We thus performed whole‐cell patch‐clamp recordings from MCHR1‐rich LSr regions to determine if and how LS cells respond to MCH. Bath application of MCH to acute brain slices activated a bicuculline‐sensitive chloride current that directly hyperpolarized LS cells. This MCH‐mediated hyperpolarization was blocked by calphostin C, which suggested that the inhibitory actions of MCH were mediated by protein kinase C‐dependent activation of GABA A receptors. Taken together, these findings define potential hotspots within the LS that may elucidate the contributions of MCH to stress‐ or anxiety‐related feeding behaviours. image Key points Melanin‐concentrating hormone (MCH) neurons have dense nerve terminals within the lateral septum (LS), a key region underlying stress‐ and anxiety‐like behaviours that are emerging roles of the MCH system, but the function of MCH in the LS is not known. We found spatial overlap between MCH‐immunoreactive fibres, Mchr1 mRNA, and MCHR1 protein expression along the lateral border of the LS. Within MCHR1‐rich regions, MCH directly inhibited LS cells by increasing chloride conductance via GABA A receptor activation in a protein kinase C‐dependent manner. Electrophysiological MCH effects in brain slices have been elusive, and few studies have described the mechanisms of MCH action. Our findings demonstrated, to our knowledge, the first description of MCHR1 G q ‐coupling in brain slices, which was previously predicted in cell or primary culture models only. Together, these findings defined hotspots and mechanistic underpinnings for MCH effects such as in feeding and anxiety‐related behaviours.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".