title: Cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript peptide (CART) in the brain of zebra finch, Taeniopygia guttata: Organization, interaction with neuropeptide Y, and response to changes in energy status.
abstract: Cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript (CART) has emerged as a potent anorectic agent. CART is widely distributed in the brain of mammals, amphibians, and teleosts, but the relevant information in avian brain is not available. In birds, CART inhibits food intake, whereas neuropeptide Y (NPY), a well-known orexigenic peptide, stimulates it. How these neuropeptides interact in the brain to regulate energy balance is not known. We studied the distribution of CART-immunoreactivity in the brain of zebra finch, Taeniopygia guttata, its interaction with NPY, and their response to dynamic energy states. CART-immunoreactive fibers were found in the subpallium, hypothalamus, midbrain, and brainstem. Conspicuous CART-immunoreactive cells were observed in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, hypothalamic paraventricular, supraoptic, dorsomedial, infundibular (IN), lateral hypothalamic, Edinger-Westphal, and parabrachial nuclei. Hypothalamic sections of fed, fasted, and refed animals were immunostained with cFos, NPY, and CART antisera. Fasting dramatically increased cFos- and NPY-immunoreactivity in the IN, followed by rapid reduction by 2 hours and restoration to normal fed levels 6-10 hours after refeeding. CART-immunoreactive fibers in IN showed a significant reduction during fasting and upregulation with refeeding. Within the IN, double immunofluorescence revealed that 94 ± 2.1% of NPY-immunoreactive neurons were contacted by CART-immunoreactive fibers and 96 ± 2.8% NPY-immunoreactive neurons expressed cFos during fasting. Compared to controls, superfused hypothalamic slices of fasted birds treated with CART-peptide showed a significant reduction (P < 0.001) in NPY-immunoreactivity in the IN. As in other vertebrates, CART in the brain of T. guttata may perform several functions, and has a particularly important role in the hypothalamic regulation of energy homeostasis. J. Comp. Neurol. 524:3014-3041, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER)-Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India.
authors.forename: Omprakash
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER)-Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India.
authors.forename: Santosh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER)-Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India.
authors.forename: Uday
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: DST-IRHPA Centre for Excellence in Biological Rhythms Research and Indo-US Centre for Biological Timing, Department of Zoology, University of Delhi, Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Vinod
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Department of Medicine, Tupper Research Institute, Tufts Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.|Department of Neuroscience, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Ronald M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Lechan
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER)-Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India.
authors.forename: Praful S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Singru
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D030161:Avian Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D001921:Brain / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D004435:Eating / Q000502:physiology; D005215:Fasting / Q000378:metabolism*; D046369:Finches / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000378:metabolism*; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006706:Homeostasis / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D009478:Neuropeptide Y / Q000378:metabolism*; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos / Q000378:metabolism; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D000098882:Cocaine- and Amphetamine-Regulated Transcript Protein
chemical_list: D030161:Avian Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D009478:Neuropeptide Y; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos; D000098882:Cocaine- and Amphetamine-Regulated Transcript Protein
keywords: CART; NPY; bird; energy balance; hypothalamus; zebra finch