Obesity is a chronic condition resulting from a long-term pattern of poor diet and lifestyle. Long-term consumption of high-fat diet (HFD) leads to persistent activation and leptin resistance in AgRP neurons in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus (ARH). Here, for the first time, we demonstrate acute effects of HFD on AgRP neuronal excitability and highlight a critical role for diet composition. In parallel with our earlier finding in obese, long-term HFD mice, we found that even brief HFD feeding results in persistent activation of ARH AgRP neurons. However, unlike long-term HFD-fed mice, AgRP neurons from short-term HFD-fed mice were still leptin-sensitive, indicating that the development of leptin-insensitivity is not a prerequisite for the increased firing rate of AgRP neurons. To distinguish between diet composition, caloric intake, and body weight, we compared acute and long-term effects of HFD and CD in pair-fed mice on AgRP neuronal spiking. HFD consumption in pair-fed mice resulted in a significant increase in AgRP neuronal spiking despite controls for weight gain and caloric intake. Taken together, our results suggest that diet composition may be more important than either calorie intake or body weight for electrically remodeling arcuate AgRP/NPY neurons.

PKD2 (polycystin-2, TRPP1), a TRP polycystin channel, is expressed in endothelial cells (ECs), but its physiological functions in this cell type are unclear. Here, we generated inducible, EC-specific Pkd2 knockout mice to examine vascular functions of PKD2. Data show that a broad range of intravascular flow rates stimulate EC PKD2 channels, producing vasodilation. Flow-mediated PKD2 channel activation leads to calcium influx that activates SK/IK channels and eNOS serine 1176 phosphorylation in ECs. These signaling mechanisms produce arterial hyperpolarization and vasodilation. In contrast, EC PKD2 channels do not contribute to acetylcholine-induced vasodilation, suggesting stimulus-specific function. EC-specific PKD2 knockout elevated blood pressure in mice without altering cardiac function or kidney anatomy. These data demonstrate that flow stimulates PKD2 channels in ECs, leading to SK/IK channel and eNOS activation, hyperpolarization, vasodilation and a reduction in systemic blood pressure. Thus, PKD2 channels are a major component of functional flow sensing in the vasculature.

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Background Orai3 is a mammalian‐specific member of the Orai family (Orai1‒3) and a component of the store‐operated Ca 2+ entry channels. There is little understanding of the role of Orai channels in cardiomyocytes, and its role in cardiac function remains unexplored. Thus, we developed mice lacking Orai1 and Orai3 to address their role in cardiac homeostasis. Methods and Results We generated constitutive and inducible cardiomyocyte‐specific Orai3 knockout (Orai3 cKO ) mice. Constitutive Orai3‐loss led to ventricular dysfunction progressing to dilated cardiomyopathy and heart failure. Orai3 cKO mice subjected to pressure overload developed a fulminant dilated cardiomyopathy with rapid heart failure onset, characterized by interstitial fibrosis and apoptosis. Ultrastructural analysis of Orai3‐deficient cardiomyocytes showed abnormal M‐ and Z‐line morphology. The greater density of condensed mitochondria in Orai3‐deficient cardiomyocytes was associated with the upregulation of DRP1 (dynamin‐related protein 1). Cardiomyocytes isolated from Orai3 cKO mice exhibited profoundly altered myocardial Ca 2+ cycling and changes in the expression of critical proteins involved in the Ca 2+ clearance mechanisms. Upregulation of TRPC6 (transient receptor potential canonical type 6) channels was associated with upregulation of the RCAN1 (regulator of calcineurin 1), indicating the activation of the calcineurin signaling pathway in Orai3 cKO mice. A more dramatic cardiac phenotype emerged when Orai3 was removed in adult mice using a tamoxifen‐inducible Orai3 cKO mouse. The removal of Orai1 from adult cardiomyocytes did not change the phenotype of tamoxifen‐inducible Orai3 cKO mice. Conclusions Our results identify a critical role for Orai3 in the heart. We provide evidence that Orai3‐mediated Ca 2+ signaling is required for maintaining sarcomere integrity and proper mitochondrial function in adult mammalian cardiomyocytes.

Stromal interaction molecule 1 (STIM1) resides primarily in the sarco/endoplasmic reticulum, where it senses intraluminal Ca2+ levels and activates Orai channels on the plasma membrane to initiate Ca2+ influx. We have previously shown that STIM1 is involved in the dynamic remodeling of the actin cytoskeleton. However, the downstream effectors of STIM1 that lead to cytoskeletal remodeling are not known. The proximity-labeling technique (BioID) can capture weak and transient protein-protein interactions, including proteins that reside in the close vicinity of the bait, but that may not be direct binders. Hence, in the present study, we investigated the STIM1 interactome using the BioID technique. A promiscuous biotin ligase was fused to the cytoplasmic C-terminus of STIM1 and was stably expressed in a mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEF) cell line. Screening of biotinylated proteins identified several high confidence targets. Here, we report Gelsolin (GSN) as a new member of the STIM1 interactome. GSN is a Ca2+-dependent actin-severing protein that promotes actin filament assembly and disassembly. Results were validated using knockdown approaches and immunostaining. We tested our results in neonatal cardiomyocytes where STIM1 overexpression induced altered actin dynamics and cytoskeletal instability. This is the first time that BioID assay was used to investigate the STIM1 interactome. Our work highlights the role of STIM1/GSN in the structure and function of the cytoskeleton.

As the discovery of cellular diversity in the brain accelerates, so does the need for functional tools that target cells based on multiple features, such as gene expression and projection target. By selectively driving recombinase expression in a feature-specific manner, one can utilize intersectional strategies to conditionally promote payload expression only where multiple features overlap. We developed Conditional Viral Expression by Ribozyme Guided Degradation (ConVERGD), a single-construct intersectional targeting strategy that combines a self-cleaving ribozyme with traditional FLEx switches. ConVERGD offers benefits over existing platforms, such as expanded intersectionality, the ability to accommodate larger and more complex payloads, and a vector design that is easily modified to better facilitate rapid toolkit expansion. To demonstrate its utility for interrogating neural circuitry, we employed ConVERGD to target an unexplored subpopulation of norepinephrine (NE)-producing neurons within the rodent locus coeruleus (LC) identified via single-cell transcriptomic profiling to co-express the stress-related endogenous opioid gene prodynorphin (Pdyn). These studies showcase ConVERGD as a versatile tool for targeting diverse cell types and reveal Pdyn-expressing NE+ LC neurons as a small neuronal subpopulation capable of driving anxiogenic behavioral responses in rodents.

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