Mapping of the alpha 7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit expression in different brain areas during different ages and after chronic exposure to a high-fat diet

• Grant number: 23/02027-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: May 01, 2023
• End date: October 10, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Nutrition - Nutrition Biochemistry
• Principal Investigator: Marcio Alberto Torsoni
• Grantee: Wenicios Ferreira Chaves
• Supervisor: Carol Fuzeti Elias
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Aplicadas (FCA). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Limeira , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Michigan, United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 20/06661-2 - Role of alpha7nAChR cholinergic receptors in hypothalamic POMC neurons on the control of energy homeostasis in mice, BP.DR

Abstract

The cholinergic system presents a wide diffusion in the organism, while the alpha 7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit (a7nAChR) is most widely expressed. Recent studies have shown that ±7nAChR has an important role in energy homeostasis maintenance. This role is mediated by JAK2-STAT3 pathway activation but also it can be associated with its calcium-selective ionic channel function for which acetylcholine acts, but different signals seem to act for the same pathway, such as leptin. The ±7nAChR expressed in neuronal cells, such as POMC neurons, when activated favors increased anorexigenic neuropeptide expression (e.g., POMC and CART) and on the opposite act by reducing orexigenic neuropeptide expression (e.g., NPY and AgRP). However, our group showed a reduction of ±7nAChR content in the hypothalamus of mice after short term exposed to a high-fat diet. We further have observed impairment in glucose homeostasis in the liver from young male mice without ±7nAChR in hypothalamic POMC neurons (data not published). Furthermore, the ±7nAChR expressed in glial cells such as astrocytes and microglia also contribute to energy maintenance, because they act mitigating impairment in the neural control of energy balance mediated by diet-induced obesity. Thus, this proposal aims to map the ±7nAChR expression in different brain areas during postnatal development and its expression after chronic exposure to a high-fat diet. (AU)