The hypothalamic neuropeptide melanin-concentrating hormone acts in the nucleus accumbens to modulate feeding behavior and forced-swim performance. Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • Melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) is a hypothalamic neuropeptide with a prominent role in feeding and energy homeostasis. The rodent MCH receptor (MCH1R) is highly expressed in the nucleus accumbens shell (AcSh), a region that is important in the regulation of appetitive behavior. Here we establish a role for MCH and MCH1R in mediating a hypothalamic-limbic circuit that regulates feeding and related behaviors. Direct delivery of an MCH1R receptor antagonist to the AcSh blocked feeding and produced an antidepressant-like effect in the forced swim test, whereas intra-AcSh injection of MCH had the opposite effect. Expression studies demonstrated that MCH1R is present in both the enkephalin- and dynorphin-positive medium spiny neurons of the AcSh. Biochemical analysis in AcSh explants showed that MCH signaling blocks dopamine-induced phosphorylation of the AMPA glutamate receptor subunit GluR1 at Ser845. Finally, food deprivation, but not other stressors, stimulated cAMP response element-binding protein-dependent pathways selectively in MCH neurons of the hypothalamus, suggesting that these neurons are responsive to a specific set of physiologically relevant conditions. This work identifies a novel hypothalamic-AcSh circuit that influences appetitive behavior and mediates the antidepressant activity of MCH1R antagonists.

published proceedings

  • J Neurosci

author list (cited authors)

  • Georgescu, D., Sears, R. M., Hommel, J. D., Barrot, M., Bolaos, C. A., Marsh, D. J., ... DiLeone, R. J.

citation count

  • 277

complete list of authors

  • Georgescu, Dan||Sears, Robert M||Hommel, Jonathan D||Barrot, Michel||BolaƱos, Carlos A||Marsh, Donald J||Bednarek, Maria A||Bibb, James A||Maratos-Flier, Eleftheria||Nestler, Eric J||DiLeone, Ralph J

publication date

  • March 2005