Fig. 3: Reciprocal opto/chemogenetic manipulation of collateral projections of VMH-projecting vSub neurons.

a Scheme for virus injection in the vSub and VMH of WT mice. b Validation of the expression of hM4Di and ChR2-positive fibers in the VMH. Representative trace showing action firing potential changes in VMH neurons with blue light stimulation and CNO treatment in slice electrophysiology recordings (c), and quantification of the membrane potential (d) and firing frequency (e). n = 5 neurons per group. f Three-hour chow intake in chow-fed male mice from 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm with saline or CNO treatment upon yellow or blue light stimulation. n = 9 mice per group. g Scheme for virus injection in the vSub and LS of WT mice. h Validation of the expression of hM4Di and ChR2-positive fibers in the LS. i Three-hour chow intake in chow-fed male mice from 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm with saline or CNO treatment upon yellow or blue light stimulation. n = 8 mice per group. j Scheme for virus injection in the vSub and NAcSh of WT mice. k Validation of the expression of hM4Di and ChR2-positive fibers in the NAcSh. l Three-hour chow intake in chow-fed male mice from 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm with saline or CNO treatment upon yellow or blue light stimulation. n = 9 mice per group. Paired two-tailed t-tests in (d, e). Two-way ANOVA with post hoc Sidak’s multiple comparisons in (f, i, l). *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001. Data are presented as mean ± SEM with individual data points. Source data are provided as a Source data file. The Schematics in (a, g, j) were created in BioRender. He, Y. (2025) https://BioRender.com/jot50le.