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Objectives: Glucagon secretion to stimulate hepatic glucose production is the first line of defense against hypoglycemia. This response is triggered by so far incompletely characterized central hypoglycemia-sensing mechanisms, which control autonomous nervous activity and hormone secretion. The objective of this study was to identify novel hypothalamic genes controlling insulin-induced glucagon secretion. Methods: To obtain new information on the mechanisms of hypothalamic hypoglycemia sensing, we combined genetic and transcriptomic analysis of glucagon response to insulin-induced hypoglycemia in a panel of BXD recombinant inbred mice. Results: We identified two QTLs on chromosome 8 and chromosome 15. We further investigated the role of Irak4 and Cpne8, both located in the QTL on chromosome 15, in C57BL/6J and DBA/2J mice, the BXD mouse parental strains. We found that the poor glucagon response of DBA/2J mice was associated with higher hypothalamic expression of Irak4, which encodes a kinase acting downstream of the interleukin-1 receptor (Il-1R), and of Il-ß when compared with C57BL/6J mice. We showed that intracerebroventricular administration of an Il-1R antagonist in DBA/2J mice restored insulin-induced glucagon secretion; this was associated with increased c-fos expression in the arcuate and paraventricular nuclei of the hypothalamus and with higher activation of both branches of the autonomous nervous system. Whole body inactivation of Cpne8, which encodes a Ca++-dependent regulator of membrane trafficking and exocytosis, however, had no impact on insulin-induced glucagon secretion. Conclusions: Collectively, our data identify Irak4 as a genetically controlled regulator of hypoglycemia-activated hypothalamic neurons and glucagon secretion.

Summary: The paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (PVT) controls goal-oriented behavior through its connections to the nucleus accumbens (NAc). We previously characterized Glut2aPVT neurons that are activated by hypoglycemia, and which increase sucrose seeking behavior through their glutamatergic projections to the NAc. Here, we identified glucokinase (Gck)-expressing neurons of the PVT (GckaPVT) and generated a mouse line expressing the Cre recombinase from the glucokinase locus (GckCre/+ mice). Ex vivo calcium imaging and whole-cell patch clamp recordings revealed that GckaPVT neurons that project to the NAc were mostly activated by hyperglycemia. Their chemogenetic inhibition or optogenetic stimulation, respectively, enhanced food intake or decreased sucrose-seeking behavior. Collectively, our results describe a neuronal population of Gck-expressing neurons in the PVT, which has opposite glucose sensing properties and control over feeding behavior than the previously characterized Glut2aPVT neurons. This study allows a better understanding of the complex regulation of feeding behavior by the PVT.

Summary: Transcriptional analysis of brain tissue from people with molecularly defined causes of obesity may highlight disease mechanisms and therapeutic targets. We performed RNA sequencing of hypothalamus from individuals with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS), a genetic obesity syndrome characterized by severe hyperphagia. We found that upregulated genes overlap with the transcriptome of mouse Agrp neurons that signal hunger, while downregulated genes overlap with the expression profile of Pomc neurons activated by feeding. Downregulated genes are expressed mainly in neuronal cells and contribute to neurogenesis, neurotransmitter release, and synaptic plasticity, while upregulated, predominantly microglial genes are involved in inflammatory responses. This transcriptional signature may be mediated by reduced brain-derived neurotrophic factor expression. Additionally, we implicate disruption of alternative splicing as a potential molecular mechanism underlying neuronal dysfunction in PWS. Transcriptomic analysis of the human hypothalamus may identify neural mechanisms involved in energy homeostasis and potential therapeutic targets for weight loss. : Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a genetic obesity syndrome. Bochukova et al. report gene expression changes in the hypothalamus of people with PWS that support neurodegeneration and neuroinflammation as key processes involved in this condition. Keywords: hypothalamus, Prader-Willi syndrome, BDNF, Agrp, obesity, SNORD116

The autonomic nervous system plays a critical role in glucose metabolism through both its sympathetic and parasympathetic branches, but the mechanisms that underlie the development of the autonomic innervation of the pancreas remain poorly understood. Here, we report that cholinergic innervation of pancreatic islets develops during mid-gestation under the influence of leptin. Leptin-deficient mice display a greater cholinergic innervation of pancreatic islets beginning in embryonic life, and this increase persists into adulthood. Remarkably, a single intracerebroventricular injection of leptin in embryos caused a permanent reduction in parasympathetic innervation of pancreatic β cells and long-term impairments in glucose homeostasis. These developmental effects of leptin involve a direct inhibitory effect on the outgrowth of preganglionic axons from the hindbrain. These studies reveal an unanticipated regulatory role of leptin on the parasympathetic nervous system during embryonic development and may have important implications for our understanding of the early mechanisms that contribute to diabetes.