Exploring the role of neuropeptide S in the regulation of arousal: a functional anatomical study.Show others and affiliations
2016 (English)In: Brain Structure and Function, ISSN 1863-2653, E-ISSN 1863-2661, Vol. 221, no 7, p. 3521-3546Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Neuropeptide S (NPS) is a regulatory peptide expressed by limited number of neurons in the brainstem. The simultaneous anxiolytic and arousal-promoting effect of NPS suggests an involvement in mood control and vigilance, making the NPS-NPS receptor system an interesting potential drug target. Here we examined, in detail, the distribution of NPS-immunoreactive (IR) fiber arborizations in brain regions of rat known to be involved in the regulation of sleep and arousal. Such nerve terminals were frequently apposed to GABAergic/galaninergic neurons in the ventro-lateral preoptic area (VLPO) and to tyrosine hydroxylase-IR neurons in all hypothalamic/thalamic dopamine cell groups. Then we applied the single platform-on-water (mainly REM) sleep deprivation method to study the functional role of NPS in the regulation of arousal. Of the three pontine NPS cell clusters, the NPS transcript levels were increased only in the peri-coerulear group in sleep-deprived animals, but not in stress controls. The density of NPS-IR fibers was significantly decreased in the median preoptic nucleus-VLPO region after the sleep deprivation, while radioimmunoassay and mass spectrometry measurements showed a parallel increase of NPS in the anterior hypothalamus. The expression of the NPS receptor was, however, not altered in the VLPO-region. The present results suggest a selective activation of one of the three NPS-expressing neuron clusters as well as release of NPS in distinct forebrain regions after sleep deprivation. Taken together, our results emphasize a role of the peri-coerulear cluster in the modulation of arousal, and the importance of preoptic area for the action of NPS on arousal and sleep.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2016. Vol. 221, no 7, p. 3521-3546
Keywords [en]
Neuropeptide S (NPS); Arousal; Glutamate; Dopamine; Preoptic area; Septum; Sleep; Substance P; Transmitter release; Wakefulness
National Category
Neurosciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-278345DOI: 10.1007/s00429-015-1117-5ISI: 000382685700011PubMedID: 26462664OAI: oai:DiVA.org:uu-278345DiVA, id: diva2:906435
Funder
Swedish Research Council2016-02-242016-02-242019-04-29Bibliographically approved