title: Dietary and sex-specific factors regulate hypothalamic neurogenesis in young adult mice.
abstract: The hypothalamus is the central regulator of a broad range of homeostatic and instinctive physiological processes, such as the sleep-wake cycle, food intake, and sexually dimorphic behaviors. These behaviors can be modified by various environmental and physiological cues, although the molecular and cellular mechanisms that mediate these effects remain poorly understood. Recently, it has become clear that both the juvenile and adult hypothalamus exhibit ongoing neurogenesis, which serve to modify homeostatic neural circuitry. In this report, we share new findings on the contributions of sex-specific and dietary factors to regulating neurogenesis in the hypothalamic mediobasal hypothalamus, a recently identified neurogenic niche. We report that high fat diet (HFD) selectively activates neurogenesis in the median eminence (ME) of young adult female but not male mice, and that focal irradiation of the ME in HFD-fed mice reduces weight gain in females but not males. These results suggest that some physiological effects of high fat diet are mediated by the stimulation of ME neurogenesis in a sexually dimorphic manner. We discuss these results in the context of recent advances in understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms that regulate neurogenesis in postnatal and adult hypothalamus.
authors: Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore, MD, USA ; Division of Biology and Biomedical Engineering, California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA, USA.
authors: Daniel A
authors: DA
authors: Lee
authors: Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors: Sooyeon
authors: S
authors: Yoo
authors: Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors: Thomas
authors: T
authors: Pak
authors: Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors: Juan
authors: J
authors: Salvatierra
authors: Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors: Esteban
authors: E
authors: Velarde
authors: Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore, MD, USA ; Center for Metabolism and Obesity Research, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors: Susan
authors: S
authors: Aja
authors: Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore, MD, USA ; Institute for Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore, MD, USA ; Department of Ophthalmology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore, MD, USA ; Center for High-Throughput Biology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors: Seth
authors: S
authors: Blackshaw
keywords: arcuate nucleus; dietary factors; hypothalamus; median eminence; neurogenesis; sexual dimorphism; stem cells; tanycytes