Fig. 3: Activation of astrocytes modulates neuronal activity in the DS in obese mice.

a Neuronal spontaneous activity was recorded by Ca²⁺ imaging with GCaMP6. Left, temporal projection of GCaMP6 fluorescence, scale bar, 20 µm; middle, identified domains displaying Ca²⁺ oscillations; right, raster plot showing GCaMP6 fluorescence fluctuations over time of single microdomains indicating the spontaneous Ca²⁺ signals. Scale bar, 50 µm. Temporal bar, 10 s. b Distribution of temporal correlation of neuronal Ca²⁺ signal between lean and obese mice. Temporal correlation was derived from the Pearson’s correlation coefficients calculated between all pairs of Ca²⁺ signals of single microdomains. 6131 signal pairs from n = 4 mice for lean, and 11796 pairs from n = 3 mice for the obese condition. Two-sided Wilcoxon rank sum (Mann-Whitney) test, p = 1.65 × 10⁻⁶, h = 1, stats = [zval: 18.58, ranksum: 6.1067 × 10⁷]. Signals were recorded for 1 to 2 minutes. c Distribution and quantification of the temporal correlation of neuronal Ca²⁺ signals in response to astrocyte Gq DREADD activation in lean mice (9199 signal pairs from n = 3 mice). Data are presented as mean values ± SEM. d In obese mice, astrocyte Gq DREADD activation by CNO enhanced the temporal correlation of neuronal Ca²⁺ signals detected from individual microdomains (20326 signal pairs from n = 3 mice; p = 6.97 × 10⁻¹²⁵, h = 1, stats = [zval: −23.7691, ranksum: 1.7042 × 10⁸]). Data are presented as mean values ± SEM. e Activation of astrocyte Gq DREADD enhances neuronal Ca²⁺ intensity in lean (p = 1.06 × 10 − 24, h = 1, stats = [zval: −10.2608, ranksum: 4438]) and in obese (ranksum, p = 0.032, h = 1, stats = [zval: −2.1403, ranksum: 82174]) mice. The Ca²⁺ strength was derived from the temporal integral of normalized dF/F₀ time courses and compared between control (pre CNO) and CNO application phase (Lean, 89 responsive microdomains, 3 slices, n = 3 mice; Obese: 294 microdomains, 5 slices, n = 3 mice). Signals in response to astrocyte CNO stimulations were recorded for 6 to 7 min. Data are presented as mean values ± SEM. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.