Prater C, Harris B, Merrill A, Aliyas A, Anderson K, Carr J (2016) Tectal CRF R1 receptors modulate food intake. Neuroscience 2016 Abstracts 257.08 / DDD9. Society for Neuroscience, San Diego, CA.
Summary: The optic tectum (OT) and superior colliculus (SC) rapidly inhibit food intake when a visual threat is present. Previous work from our laboratory indicates that CRF, acting on CRF R1 receptors, may play a role in tectal inhibition of prey capture. Here we test the hypothesis that tectal CRF neurons modulate food intake in juvenile Xenopus laevis. We tested five predictions: 1) Does tectal CRF injection decrease food intake? 2) Does a selective CRF R1 antagonist block CRF effects on feeding? 3) Does a selective CRF R1 antagonist block stressor-induced inhibition of feeding? 4) Does eliminating tectal cells expressing CRF R1 increase feeding? 5) Does food deprivation increase food intake and, if so, can this be reversed with CRF? X. laevis were administered oCRF alone or in combination with the selective CRF R1 antagonist NBI27914 or antagonist vehicle. Test agents were bilaterally injected into the tecta of juvenile frogs. CRF conjugated to the ribosomal toxin saporin (CRF-SAP) was administered 2 wk prior to testing to eliminate tectal cells expressing CRF R1. oCRF administered bilaterally into the tecta significantly reduced food intake compared to sham and vehicle injected juveniles. When frogs were injected with oCRF and antagonist vehicle, food intake was significantly reduced. When injected with both NBI27914 and oCRF, food intake was maintained at baseline levels. Frogs ate significantly less when exposed to a reactive stressor (ether vapors) and when pre-treated with antagonist vehicle prior to exposure. NBI27914 reversed stressor-induced inhibition of food intake. Neither CRF-SAP injection nor food deprivation (2 wk) significantly changed food intake. No significant differences in food intake were noted between males and females across all studies. Overall, we found support for questions 1-3 and conclude that activation of the tectal CRF R1 inhibits food intake in frogs. Furthermore, tectal CRF R1 receptors appear to be involved in the reduction of food intake that occurs in response to a reactive stressor. However, elimination of tectal CRF R1 neurons did not increase feeding suggesting that this system may be more important for stress-related vs. baseline feeding. This work was done in partial completion of requirements for the doctoral degree at Texas Tech University (C.P.)
Related Products: CRF-SAP (Cat. #IT-13)