Oxytocin neurons drive melanocortin circuit maturation via vesicle release during a neonatal critical period
Fig 2
Neonatal chemogenetic inhibition of OT neurons disrupts melanocortin circuits.
(A) Description of the animal model. Created in BioRender. Bouret, S. (2025) https://BioRender.com/v6d7iia. (B) Representative images of OT neurons containing mCitrine in the paraventricular nucleus (PVH). (C–F) Representative images and quantification of (C, E) POMC and (D, F) AgRP fibers innervating the (C, D) PVH and (E, F) dorsomedial nucleus (DMH) of adult R26-LSL-hM4Di-DREADD (control) and Ot-Cre::R26-LSL-hM4Di-DREADD injected with Compound-21 neonatally, or during juvenile life, or during adulthood (n = 6–7 animals per group). (G, H) Representative images and quantification of OT (PS38+) neurons and fibers innervating the (G) PVH and (H) lateral hypothalamic area (LHA), respectively, in adult R26-LSL-hM4Di-DREADD (control) and Ot-Cre::R26-LSL-hM4Di-DREADD injected with Compound-21 neonatally, or during juvenile life, or during adulthood (n = 4–5 animals per group). Data are presented as mean + SEM. ***P < 0.001. Scale bar, 200 μm. The data underlying this Figure can be found in S1 Data.