Systematic discovery of TLR signaling components delineates viral-sensing circuits.

Deciphering the signaling networks that underlie normal and disease processes remains a major challenge. Here, we report the discovery of signaling components involved in the Toll-like receptor (TLR) response of immune dendritic cells (DCs), including a previously unkown pathway shared across mammalian antiviral responses. By combining transcriptional profiling, genetic and small-molecule perturbations, and phosphoproteomics, we uncover 35 signaling regulators, including 16 known regulators, involved in TLR signaling. In particular, we find that Polo-like kinases (Plk) 2 and 4 are essential components of antiviral pathways in vitro and in vivo and activate a signaling branch involving a dozen proteins, among which is Tnfaip2, a gene associated with autoimmune diseases but whose role was unknown. Our study illustrates the power of combining systematic measurements and perturbations to elucidate complex signaling circuits and discover potential therapeutic targets.

Melanocortin 3 receptor-expressing neurons in the ventromedial hypothalamus promote glucose disposal.

The ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) is a critical neural node that senses blood glucose and promotes glucose utilization or mobilization during hypoglycemia. The VMH neurons that control these distinct physiologic processes are largely unknown. Here, we show that melanocortin 3 receptor (Mc3R)-expressing VMH neurons (VMHMC3R) sense glucose changes both directly and indirectly via altered excitatory input. We identify presynaptic nodes that potentially regulate VMHMC3R neuronal activity, including inputs from proopiomelanocortin (POMC)-producing neurons in the arcuate nucleus. We find that VMHMC3R neuron activation blunts, and their silencing enhances glucose excursion following a glucose load. Overall, these findings demonstrate that VMHMC3R neurons are a glucose-responsive hypothalamic subpopulation that promotes glucose disposal upon activation; this highlights a potential site for targeting dysregulated glycemia.

Cell monolayer deformation microscopy reveals mechanical fragility of cell monolayers following EMT.

Tissue and cell mechanics are crucial factors in maintaining homeostasis and in development, with aberrant mechanics contributing to many diseases. During the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a highly conserved cellular program in organismal development and cancer metastasis, cells gain the ability to detach from their original location and autonomously migrate. While a great deal of biochemical and biophysical changes at the single-cell level have been revealed, how the physical properties of multicellular assemblies change during EMT, and how this may affect disease progression, is unknown. Here we introduce cell monolayer deformation microscopy (CMDM), a new methodology to measure the planar mechanical properties of cell monolayers by locally applying strain and measuring their resistance to deformation. We employ this new method to characterize epithelial multicellular mechanics at early and late stages of EMT, finding the epithelial monolayers to be relatively compliant, ductile, and mechanically homogeneous. By comparison, the transformed mesenchymal monolayers, while much stiffer, were also more brittle, mechanically heterogeneous, displayed more viscoelastic creep, and showed sharp yield points at significantly lower strains. Here, CMDM measurements identify specific biophysical functional states of EMT and offer insight into how cell aggregates fragment under mechanical stress. This mechanical fingerprinting of multicellular assemblies using new quantitative metrics may also offer new diagnostic applications in healthcare to characterize multicellular mechanical changes in disease.

The Role of PVH Circuits in Leptin Action and Energy Balance.

Although it has been known for more than a century that the brain controls overall energy balance and adiposity by regulating feeding behavior and energy expenditure, the roles for individual brain regions and neuronal subtypes were not fully understood until recently. This area of research is active, and as such our understanding of the central regulation of energy balance is continually being refined as new details emerge. Much of what we now know stems from the discoveries of leptin and the hypothalamic melanocortin system. Hypothalamic circuits play a crucial role in the control of feeding and energy expenditure, and within the hypothalamus, the arcuate nucleus (ARC) functions as a gateway for hormonal signals of energy balance, such as leptin. It is also well established that the ARC is a primary residence for hypothalamic melanocortinergic neurons. The paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus (PVH) receives direct melanocortin input, along with other integrated signals that affect energy balance, and mediates the majority of hypothalamic output to control both feeding and energy expenditure. Herein, we review in detail the structure and function of the ARC-PVH circuit in mediating leptin signaling and in regulating energy balance.

Antagonism of corticotropin releasing factor in the basolateral amygdala of resilient and vulnerable rats: Effects on fear-conditioned sleep, temperature and freezing.

The basolateral nucleus of the amygdala (BLA) plays a significant role in mediating individual differences in the effects of fear memory on sleep. Here, we assessed the effects of antagonizing corticotropin releasing factor receptor 1 (CRFR1) after shock training (ST) on fear-conditioned behaviors and sleep. Outbred Wistar rats were surgically implanted with electrodes for recording EEG and EMG and with bilateral guide cannulae directed at BLA. Data loggers were placed intraperitoneally to record core body temperature. The CRFR1 antagonist, antalarmin (ANT; 4.82 mM) was microinjected into BLA after shock training (ST: 20 footshocks, 0.8 mA, 0.5 s duration, 60 s interstimulus interval), and the effects on sleep, freezing and the stress response (stress-induced hyperthermia, SIH) were examined after ST and fearful context re-exposure alone at 7 days (CTX1) and 21 days (CTX2) post-ST. EEG and EMG recordings were scored for non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREM), rapid eye movement sleep (REM) and wakefulness. The rats were separated into 4 groups: Vehicle-vulnerable (Veh-Vul; n = 10), Veh-resilient (Veh-Res; n = 11), ANT-vulnerable (ANT-Vul; n = 8) and ANT-resilient (ANT-Res; n = 8) based on whether, compared to baseline, the rats showed a decrease or no change/increase in REM during the first 4 h following ST. Post-ST ANT microinjected into BLA attenuated the fear-conditioned reduction in REM in ANT-Vul rats on CTX1, but did not significantly alter REM in ANT-Res rats. However, compared to Veh treated rats, REM was reduced in ANT treated rats on CTX2. There were no group differences in freezing or SIH across conditions. Therefore, CRFR1 in BLA plays a role in mediating individual differences in sleep responses to stress and in the extinction of fear conditioned changes in sleep.

The basolateral amygdala can mediate the effects of fear memory on sleep independently of fear behavior and the peripheral stress response.

Fear conditioning associated with inescapable shock training (ST) and fearful context re-exposure (CR) alone can produce significant behavioral fear, a stress response and alterations in subsequent REM sleep. These alterations may vary among animals and are mediated by the basolateral nucleus of the amygdala (BLA). Here, we used the GABAA agonist, muscimol (Mus), to inactivate BLA prior to CR and examined the effects on sleep, freezing and stress-induced hyperthermia (SIH). Wistar rats (n=28) were implanted with electrodes for recording sleep, data loggers for recording core body temperature, and with cannulae aimed bilaterally into BLA. After recovery, the animals were habituated to the injection procedure and baseline sleep was recorded. On experimental day 1, rats received ST (20 footshocks, 0.8mA, 0.5s duration, 60s interstimulus interval). On experimental day 7, the rats received microinjections (0.5µl) into BLA of either Mus (1.0µM; n=13) or vehicle (Veh; n=15) prior to CR (CR1). On experimental day 21, the animals experienced a second CR (CR2) without Mus. For analysis, the rats were separated into 4 groups: (Veh-vulnerable (Veh-Vul; n=8), Veh-resilient (Veh-Res; n=7), Mus-vulnerable (Mus-Vul; n=7), and Mus-resilient (Mus-Res; n=6)) based on whether or not REM was decreased, compared to baseline, during the first 4h following ST. Pre-CR1 inactivation of BLA did not alter freezing or SIH, but did block the reduction in REM in the Mus-Vul group compared to the Veh-Vul group. These data indicate that BLA is an important region for mediating the effects of fearful memories on sleep.

Control of food intake and energy expenditure by Nos1 neurons of the paraventricular hypothalamus.

The paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVH) contains a heterogeneous cluster of Sim1-expressing cell types that comprise a major autonomic output nucleus and play critical roles in the control of food intake and energy homeostasis. The roles of specific PVH neuronal subtypes in energy balance have yet to be defined, however. The PVH contains nitric oxide synthase-1 (Nos1)-expressing (Nos1(PVH)) neurons of unknown function; these represent a subset of the larger population of Sim1-expressing PVH (Sim1(PVH)) neurons. To determine the role of Nos1(PVH) neurons in energy balance, we used Cre-dependent viral vectors to both map their efferent projections and test their functional output in mice. Here we show that Nos1(PVH) neurons project to hindbrain and spinal cord regions important for food intake and energy expenditure control. Moreover, pharmacogenetic activation of Nos1(PVH) neurons suppresses feeding to a similar extent as Sim1(PVH) neurons, and increases energy expenditure and activity. Furthermore, we found that oxytocin-expressing PVH neurons (OXT(PVH)) are a subset of Nos1(PVH) neurons. OXT(PVH) cells project to preganglionic, sympathetic neurons in the thoracic spinal cord and increase energy expenditure upon activation, though not to the same extent as Nos1(PVH) neurons; their activation fails to alter feeding, however. Thus, Nos1(PVH) neurons promote negative energy balance through changes in feeding and energy expenditure, whereas OXT(PVH) neurons regulate energy expenditure alone, suggesting a crucial role for non-OXT Nos1(PVH) neurons in feeding regulation.

Vertical silicon nanowires as a universal platform for delivering biomolecules into living cells.

A generalized platform for introducing a diverse range of biomolecules into living cells in high-throughput could transform how complex cellular processes are probed and analyzed. Here, we demonstrate spatially localized, efficient, and universal delivery of biomolecules into immortalized and primary mammalian cells using surface-modified vertical silicon nanowires. The method relies on the ability of the silicon nanowires to penetrate a cell's membrane and subsequently release surface-bound molecules directly into the cell's cytosol, thus allowing highly efficient delivery of biomolecules without chemical modification or viral packaging. This modality enables one to assess the phenotypic consequences of introducing a broad range of biological effectors (DNAs, RNAs, peptides, proteins, and small molecules) into almost any cell type. We show that this platform can be used to guide neuronal progenitor growth with small molecules, knock down transcript levels by delivering siRNAs, inhibit apoptosis using peptides, and introduce targeted proteins to specific organelles. We further demonstrate codelivery of siRNAs and proteins on a single substrate in a microarray format, highlighting this technology's potential as a robust, monolithic platform for high-throughput, miniaturized bioassays.

An open-source device for measuring food intake and operant behavior in rodent home-cages.

Feeding is critical for survival, and disruption in the mechanisms that govern food intake underlies disorders such as obesity and anorexia nervosa. It is important to understand both food intake and food motivation to reveal mechanisms underlying feeding disorders. Operant behavioral testing can be used to measure the motivational component to feeding, but most food intake monitoring systems do not measure operant behavior. Here, we present a new solution for monitoring both food intake and motivation in rodent home-cages: the Feeding Experimentation Device version 3 (FED3). FED3 measures food intake and operant behavior in rodent home-cages, enabling longitudinal studies of feeding behavior with minimal experimenter intervention. It has a programmable output for synchronizing behavior with optogenetic stimulation or neural recordings. Finally, FED3 design files are open-source and freely available, allowing researchers to modify FED3 to suit their needs.

Obesity and anorexia nervosa are two health conditions related to food intake. Researchers studying these disorders in animal models need to both measure food intake and assess behavioural factors: that is, why animals seek and consume food. Measuring an animal's food intake is usually done by weighing food containers. However, this can be inaccurate due to the small amount of food that rodents eat. As for studying feeding motivation, this can involve calculating the number of times an animal presses a lever to receive a food pellet. These tests are typically conducted in hour-long sessions in temporary testing cages, called operant boxes. Yet, these tests only measure a brief period of a rodent's life. In addition, it takes rodents time to adjust to these foreign environments, which can introduce stress and may alter their feeding behaviour. To address this, Matikainen-Ankney, Earnest, Ali et al. developed a device for monitoring food intake and feeding behaviours around the clock in rodent home cages with minimal experimenter intervention. This 'Feeding Experimentation Device' (FED3) features a pellet dispenser and two 'nose-poke' sensors to measure total food intake, as well as motivation for and learning about food rewards. The battery-powered, wire-free device fits in standard home cages, enabling long-term studies of feeding behaviour with minimal intervention from investigators and less stress on the animals. This means researchers can relate data to circadian rhythms and meal patterns, as Matikainen-Ankney did here. Moreover, the device software is open-source so researchers can customise it to suit their experimental needs. It can also be programmed to synchronise with other instruments used in animal experiments, or across labs running the same behavioural tasks for multi-site studies. Used in this way, it could help improve reproducibility and reliability of results from such studies. In summary, Matikainen-Ankney et al. have presented a new practical solution for studying food-related behaviours in mice and rats. Not only could the device be useful to researchers, it may also be suitable to use in educational settings such as teaching labs and classrooms.

Integrating Hunger with Rival Motivations.

Motivated behaviors have fascinated neuroscientists and ethologists for decades due to their necessity for organism survival. Motivations guide behavioral choice through an intricate synthesis of internal state detection, external stimulus exposure, and learned associations. One critical motivation, hunger, provides an accessible example for understanding purposeful behavior. Neuroscientists commonly focus research efforts on neural circuits underlying individual motivations, sacrificing ethological relevance for tight experimental control. This restrictive focus deprives the field of a more nuanced understanding of the unified nervous system in weighing multiple motivations simultaneously and choosing, moment-to-moment, optimal behaviors for survival. Here, we explore the reciprocal interplay between hunger, encoded via hypothalamic neurons marked by the expression of Agouti-related peptide, and alternative need-based motivational systems.

Young people's views on their role in the COVID-19 pandemic and society's recovery from it.

OBJECTIVE: There has been little formal exploration of how young people see their role in the COVID-19 pandemic. DESIGN/SETTING: Focus-group discussion with 15 Children's Hospital Young People's Forum members (23/5) to explore their perspective on the impact of COVID-19 on both their lives and those of their community, on school closures, and the role they wished to play in society's recovery from the pandemic. Audio recordings were transcribed verbatim using NVivo Software and analysed using an inductive thematic analysis approach. OUTCOME: Four major themes identified: (1) Awareness of pandemic's impact on others: participants showed mature awareness of the effects on broader society, especially the elderly, socially disadvantaged and parents. (2) Perceived impact on their own lives: principal concerns were the educational and practical repercussions of school closures and social isolation, including effects on educational prospects. (3) Views about school reopening: young people understood the broader rationale for school reopening and were generally positive about it, but expressed concerned about their safety and that of others. (4) Communication issues: a need for clear, concise, understandable information readily accessible for young people was expressed. Up to now, they felt passive recipients rather than participants. CONCLUSION: Young people were concerned about their future, their family and broader society, consistent with a high level of moral development. They want to be active participants in social recovery, including concepts around return to school but require appropriate information and a means by which their voices can be heard. The alternative suggested roles as pawns or pathfinders were discounted.

Predicting stress resilience and vulnerability: brain-derived neurotrophic factor and rapid eye movement sleep as potential biomarkers of individual stress responses.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: To examine the rapid eye movement sleep (REM) response to mild stress as a predictor of the REM response to intense stress and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) as a potential biomarker of stress resilience and vulnerability. METHODS: Outbred Wistar rats were surgically implanted with electrodes for recording electroencephalography (EEG) and electromyogram (EMG) and intraperitoneal Data loggers to record body temperature. Blood was also obtained to measure circulating BDNF. After recovery, rats were exposed to mild stress (novel chamber, NC) and later intense stress (shock training, ST), followed by sleep recording. Subsequently, rats were separated into resilient (Res; n=27) or vulnerable (Vul; n = 15) based on whether or not there was a 50% or greater decrease in REM after ST compared to baseline. We then compared sleep, freezing, and the stress response (stress-induced hyperthermia, SIH) across groups to determine the effects of mild and intense stress to determine if BDNF was predictive of the REM response. RESULTS: REM totals in the first 4 hours of sleep after exposure to NC predicted REM responses following ST with resilient animals having higher REM and vulnerable animals having lower REM. Resilient rats had significantly higher baseline peripheral BDNF compared to vulnerable rats. CONCLUSIONS: These results show that outbred rats display significant differences in post-stress sleep and peripheral BDNF identifying these factors as potential markers of resilience and vulnerability prior to traumatic stress.

Paraventricular, subparaventricular and periventricular hypothalamic IRS4-expressing neurons are required for normal energy balance.

Understanding the neural components modulating feeding-related behavior and energy expenditure is crucial to combating obesity and its comorbidities. Neurons within the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVH) are a key component of the satiety response; activation of the PVH decreases feeding and increases energy expenditure, thereby promoting negative energy balance. In contrast, PVH ablation or silencing in both rodents and humans leads to substantial obesity. Recent studies have identified genetically-defined PVH subpopulations that control discrete aspects of energy balance (e.g. oxytocin (OXT), neuronal nitric oxide synthase 1 (NOS1), melanocortin 4-receptor (MC4R), prodynorphin (PDYN)). We previously demonstrated that non-OXT NOS1PVH neurons contribute to PVH-mediated feeding suppression. Here, we identify and characterize a non-OXT, non-NOS1 subpopulation of PVH and peri-PVH neurons expressing insulin-receptor substrate 4 (IRS4PVH) involved in energy balance control. Using Cre-dependent viral tools to activate, trace and silence these neurons, we highlight the sufficiency and necessity of IRS4PVH neurons in normal feeding and energy expenditure regulation. Furthermore, we demonstrate that IRS4PVH neurons lie within a complex hypothalamic circuitry that engages distinct hindbrain regions and is innervated by discrete upstream hypothalamic sites. Overall, we reveal a requisite role for IRS4PVH neurons in PVH-mediated energy balance which raises the possibility of developing novel approaches targeting IRS4PVH neurons for anti-obesity therapies.

Differential behavioral, stress, and sleep responses in mice with different delays of fear extinction.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: Sleep, in particular rapid eye movement (REM), has been linked to fear learning and extinction; however, their relationship is poorly understood. We determined how different delays of extinction training (ET) impact fear-conditioned behaviors, changes in sleep, and stress responses. METHODS: EEG activity, movement, and body temperature in mice were monitored via telemetry. Following contextual fear conditioning (shock training [ST]), separate groups of mice were reexposed to the context at 24-hour post-ST (24h ET-1) and at 48-hour post-ST (48h ET-1). Post-ET sleep amount and sleep-associated EEG (delta and theta) activity were compared to baseline and to post-ST sleep. Freezing, locomotion, grooming, and rearing were monitored to determine effects of ET on fear behaviors. Body temperature immediately after ET was monitored to assess stress-induced hyperthermia (SIH). RESULTS: 24h ET-1 and 48h ET-1 produced similar freezing and REM reductions, but dissimilar rearing activity and SIH. 24h ET-1 was followed by periods of suppressed REM-associated theta (REM-θ) activity, immediately after ET and during the subsequent dark period. Suppressed REM-θ was specific to sleep after 24h ET-1, and did not occur after ST, nor after 48h ET-1. CONCLUSIONS: ET-1 at 24 and 48 hours after ST was associated with similar freezing and REM amounts, but with differences in other overt behaviors, in REM-θ, and in SIH. Freezing was not predictive of changes in other fear-associated responses. This study demonstrated that consideration of time delay from fear acquisition to extinction is important when assessing the relationships between extinction and behavior, sleep, and stress responses.

Lateral Hypothalamic Mc3R-Expressing Neurons Modulate Locomotor Activity, Energy Expenditure, and Adiposity in Male Mice.

The central melanocortin system plays a crucial role in the control of energy balance. Although the decreased energy expenditure and increased adiposity of melanocortin-3 receptor (Mc3R)-null mice suggest the importance of Mc3R-regulated neurons in energy homeostasis, the roles for specific subsets of Mc3R neurons in energy balance have yet to be determined. Because the lateral hypothalamic area (LHA) contributes to the control of energy expenditure and feeding, we generated Mc3rcre mice to determine the roles of LHA Mc3R (Mc3RLHA) neurons in energy homeostasis. We found that Mc3RLHA neurons overlap extensively with LHA neuron markers that contribute to the control of energy balance (neurotensin, galanin, and leptin receptor) and project to brain areas involved in the control of feeding, locomotion, and energy expenditure, consistent with potential roles for Mc3RLHA neurons in these processes. Indeed, selective chemogenetic activation of Mc3RLHA neurons increased locomotor activity and augmented refeeding after a fast. Although the ablation of Mc3RLHA neurons did not alter food intake, mice lacking Mc3RLHA neurons displayed decreased energy expenditure and locomotor activity, along with increased body mass and adiposity. Thus, Mc3R neurons lie within LHA neurocircuitry that modulates locomotor activity and energy expenditure and contribute to energy balance control.

Corrigendum: Photothermally triggered actuation of hybrid materials as a new platform for in vitro cell manipulation.

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/ncomms14700.

Photothermally triggered actuation of hybrid materials as a new platform for in vitro cell manipulation.

Mechanical forces in the cell's natural environment have a crucial impact on growth, differentiation and behaviour. Few areas of biology can be understood without taking into account how both individual cells and cell networks sense and transduce physical stresses. However, the field is currently held back by the limitations of the available methods to apply physiologically relevant stress profiles on cells, particularly with sub-cellular resolution, in controlled in vitro experiments. Here we report a new type of active cell culture material that allows highly localized, directional and reversible deformation of the cell growth substrate, with control at scales ranging from the entire surface to the subcellular, and response times on the order of seconds. These capabilities are not matched by any other method, and this versatile material has the potential to bridge the performance gap between the existing single cell micro-manipulation and 2D cell sheet mechanical stimulation techniques.

Infused polymers for cell sheet release.

Tissue engineering using whole, intact cell sheets has shown promise in many cell-based therapies. However, current systems for the growth and release of these sheets can be expensive to purchase or difficult to fabricate, hindering their widespread use. Here, we describe a new approach to cell sheet release surfaces based on silicone oil-infused polydimethylsiloxane. By coating the surfaces with a layer of fibronectin (FN), we were able to grow mesenchymal stem cells to densities comparable to those of tissue culture polystyrene controls (TCPS). Simple introduction of oil underneath an edge of the sheet caused it to separate from the substrate. Characterization of sheets post-transfer showed that they retain their FN layer and morphology, remain highly viable, and are able to grow and proliferate normally after transfer. We expect that this method of cell sheet growth and detachment may be useful for low-cost, flexible, and customizable production of cellular layers for tissue engineering.

Individual Differences in Animal Stress Models: Considering Resilience, Vulnerability, and the Amygdala in Mediating the Effects of Stress and Conditioned Fear on Sleep.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: To examine the REM sleep response to stress and fearful memories as a potential marker of stress resilience and vulnerability and to assess the role of the basolateral amygdala (BLA) in mediating the effects of fear memory on sleep. METHODS: Outbred Wistar rats were surgically implanted with electrodes for recording EEG and EMG and with bilateral guide cannulae directed at the BLA. Data loggers were placed intraperitoneally to record core body temperature. After recovery from surgery, the rats received shock training (ST: 20 footshocks, 0.8 mA, 0.5-s duration, 60-s interstimulus interval) and afterwards received microinjections of the GABAA agonist muscimol (MUS; 1.0 µM) to inactivate BLA or microinjections of vehicle (VEH) alone. Subsequently, the rats were separated into 4 groups (VEH-vulnerable (VEH-Vul; n = 14), VEH-resilient (VEH-Res; n = 13), MUS-vulnerable (MUS-Vul; n = 8), and MUS-resilient (MUS-Res; n = 11) based on whether or not REM was decreased, compared to baseline, during the first 4 h following ST. We then compared sleep, freezing, and the stress response (stress-induced hyperthermia, SIH) across groups to determine the effects of ST and fearful context re-exposure alone (CTX). RESULTS: REM was significantly reduced on the ST day in both VEH-Vul and MUS-Vul rats; however, post-ST MUS blocked the reduction in REM on the CTX day in the MUS-Vul group. The VEH-Res and MUS-Res rats showed similar levels of REM on both ST and CTX days. The effects of post-ST inactivation of BLA on freezing and SIH were minimal. CONCLUSIONS: Outbred Wistar rats can show significant individual differences in the effects of stress on REM that are mediated by BLA. These differences in REM can be independent of behavioral fear and the peripheral stress response, and may be an important biomarker of stress resilience and vulnerability.

AVP neurons in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus regulate feeding.

Melanocortins and their receptors are critical components of energy homeostasis and the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVH) is an important site of melanocortin action. Although best known for its role in osmoregulation, arginine vasopressin (AVP) has been implicated in feeding and is robustly expressed in the PVH. Since the anorectic melanocortin agonist MTII activates PVH-AVP neurons, we hypothesized that PVH-AVP neurons contribute to PVH-mediated anorexia. To test this, we used an AVP-specific Cre-driver mouse in combination with viral vectors to acutely manipulate PVH-AVP neuron function. Using designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs (DREADDs) to control PVH-AVP neuron activity, we show that activation of PVH-AVP neurons acutely inhibits food intake, whereas their inhibition partially reverses melanocortin-induced anorexia. We further show that MTII fails to fully suppress feeding in mice with virally-induced PVH-AVP neuron ablation. Thus PVH-AVP neurons contribute to feeding behaviors, including the acute anorectic response to MTII.