Serotonin neurons integrate GABA and dopamine inputs to regulate meal initiation.

ABSTRACT: Obesity is a growing global health epidemic with limited orally administered therapeutics. Serotonin (5-HT) is one neurotransmitter which remains an excellent target for new weight-loss therapies, but a gap remains in understanding the mechanisms involved in 5-HT produced in the dorsal Raphe nucleus (DRN) and its involvement in meal initiation. Using an optogenetic feeding paradigm, we showed that the 5-HT^DRN➔arcuate nucleus (ARH) circuit plays a role in meal initiation. Incorporating electrophysiology and ChannelRhodopsin-2-Assisted Circuit Mapping, we demonstrated that 5-HT^DRN neurons receive inhibitory input partially from GABAergic neurons in the DRN, and the 5-HT response can be enhanced by hunger. Additionally, deletion of the GABA_A receptor subunit i

SUBMITTER: Conde KM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11924950 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature