A Light-Responsive Neural Circuit Suppresses Feeding
- Hailan Liu1,*,
- Na Qu2,3,4,5,6,*,
- Natalia Valdez Gonzalez7,
- Marco A. Palma7,
- Huamin Chen2,3,6,
- Jiani Xiong2,3,5,
- Abhinav Choubey8,
- Yongxiang Li1,
- Xin Li8,
- Meng Yu1,
- Hesong Liu1,
- Longlong Tu1,
- Nan Zhang1,
- Na Yin1,
- Kristine Marie Conde1,
- Mengjie Wang1,
- Jonathan Carter Bean1,
- Junying Han1,
- Nikolas Anthony Scarcelli1,
- Yongjie Yang1,
- Kenji Saito9,
- Huxing Cui9,10,11,
- Qingchun Tong12,
- Zheng Sun8,
- Chunmei Wang1,
- Xing Cai13,
- Li Lu13,
- Yang He1, and
- Yong Xu1,14,15
- 1Department of Pediatrics, Children’s Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030
- 2Research Center for Mental Health and Neuroscience, Wuhan Mental Health Center, Wuhan 430012, China
- 3Wuhan Hospital for Psychotherapy, Wuhan 430012, China
- 4Affiliated Wuhan Mental Health Center, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430012, China
- 5Research Center for Psychological and Health Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430012, China
- 6Affiliated Wuhan Mental Health Center, Jianghan University, Wuhan 430012, China
- 7Human Behavior Laboratory, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843
- 8Department of Medicine–Endocrinology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030
- 9Department of Pharmacology and Neuroscience, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa 52242
- 10Iowa Neuroscience Institute, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa 52242
- 11F.O.E. Diabetes Research Center, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa 52242
- 12Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas 77030
- 13Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650201, China
- 14Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030
- 15Section of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism, Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030
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Author contributions: Ha.L., N.Q., M.A.P., and Y.X. designed research; Ha.L., N.Q., N.V.G., H.C., J.X., A.C., Y.L., and X.L. performed research; Ha.L. contributed unpublished reagents/analytic tools; Ha.L., N.Q., M.Y., He.L., L.T., N.Z., N.Y., K.M.C., M.W., J.C.B., J.H., N.A.S., Y.Y., K.S., H.C., Q.T., Z.S., C.W., X.C., L.L., and Y.H. analyzed data; H.L. wrote the paper.
Abstract
Light plays an essential role in a variety of physiological processes, including vision, mood, and glucose homeostasis. However, the intricate relationship between light and an animal's feeding behavior has remained elusive. Here, we found that light exposure suppresses food intake, whereas darkness amplifies it in male mice. Interestingly, this phenomenon extends its reach to diurnal male Nile grass rats and healthy humans. We further show that lateral habenula (LHb) neurons in mice respond to light exposure, which in turn activates 5-HT neurons in the dorsal Raphe nucleus (DRN). Activation of the LHb→5-HTDRN circuit in mice blunts darkness-induced hyperphagia, while inhibition of the circuit prevents light-induced anorexia. Together, we discovered a light-responsive neural circuit that relays the environmental light signals to regulate feeding behavior in mice.
- Received November 23, 2023.
- Revision received May 22, 2024.
- Accepted May 24, 2024.
- Copyright © 2024 the authors
