Glutamatergic lateral hypothalamus promotes defensive behavio

Optogenetic viruses were used for the activation or inhibition of LH glutamatergic neurons. The virus expressing GCaMP6m was used for recording the activities of LH glutamatergic neurons in the freely-moving mice. (some viruses were packaged by BrainVTA)

The viruses used in this article are in the table below

Control	PT-0258 AAV-Retro-Ef1α-DIO-eGFP
Optogenetic	PT-0002 AAV-EF1a-DIO-ChR2-mCherry PT-0555 AAV-CAG-DIO-eArch3.0-eYFP PT-0001 AAV-Retro-Ef1α-DIO-ChR2-eYFP
Calcium sensors	PT-0283 AAV-EF1a-DIO-GCaMP6m
Chemogenetics	PT-0042 AAV-EF1a-DIO-hM3Dq-mCherry

Pub Date: 2020-08-06, DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2020.108239 Email:sales@brainvta.com
Li Chen , Ping Cai , Ren-Fei Wang , Yi-Ping Lu , Hui-Yun Chen , Yu-Rou Guo , Sheng-Nan Huang , Li-Huan Hu , Jian Chen , Ze-Hong Zheng , Peng He , Bing-Feng Zhang , Ji-Yuan Liu , Wen-Xiang Wang , Huang-Yuan Li , Chang-Xi Yu
The glutamatergic lateral hypothalamus (LH) has been implicated in a variety of behaviors, such as evasion and feeding, while its role in defensive behaviors and relevant neuro circuits remains unclear. Here, we demonstrated that the glutamatergic LH is a critical structure regulating defensive behaviors. Trimethylthiazole (TMT), the odor of mice predator, significantly increased c-Fos expression in the LH. Using fiber photometry technology, we found that TMT exposure increased the activity of LH glutamatergic neurons. Selective activation of LH glutamatergic neurons with optogenetics and chemogenetics promoted a series of defense-related behaviors, including fleeing, avoidance, and hiding, while selective inhibition of LH glutamatergic neurons suppressed the avoidance provoked by TMT. Activation of both the glutamatergic LH terminals in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) and the glutamatergic projection from the basolateral amygdala (BLA) to the LH elicited defensive behaviors. Finally, by combining the viral-mediated retrograde tracing with anterograde activation, we found that PVN-projecting glutamatergic neurons in the LH were activated by BLA glutamatergic inputs. Taken together, our results illustrate that the glutamatergic LH is a pivotal relay of defensive behaviors and possibly promotes these behaviors through the BLA→LH→PVN pathway.

Fig.1 Inhibition of LH glutamatergic neurons promotes hiding behavior and suppresses the avoidance behavior.

To clarify the role of glutamatergic lateral hypothalamus in defensive behaviors and relevant neurocircuits，using fiber photometry technology, optogenetics and chemogenetics and viral-mediated retrograde tracing with anterograde activation (Some are From BrainVTA), the researchers illustrated the glutamatergic LH is a pivotal relay of defensive behaviors and possibly promotes these behaviors through the BLA→LH→PVN pathway.

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