Fig. 3: Insular cortexVglut2+ afferents co-localize with Fos protein expression during stress-induced binge eating protocol.
A Representative plots of the spread of the retrograde virus in the injection site for the three groups. B Brain regions with the highest number of Fos-positive Vglut2 projecting neurons to the insular cortex. Increased Fos expression in PVTVglut2 projecting neurons was observed in animals that stress-binged and is highlighted in grey. *p = 0.0308, two-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s multiple comparisons test. Data are presented as mean ± SEM, n = 4–6 mice per group. C Photomicrograph of the PVT showing Vglut2-Cre projecting neurons (green) and Fos-positive cells nuclei (magenta). Scale bar: 100 μm. D Representative image of PVT immunofluorescence for Vglut2 (green), Fos-protein (magenta), and merged fluorescence. Scale bar: 20 μm. Ai Anterior agranular insular cortex, BLA Basolateral amygdala, CxA Cortex-amygdala transition zone, Ect Ectorhinal cortex, LEnt Lateral entorhinal cortex, mAON Anterior olfactory nucleus, medial portion; mOFC Orbitofrontal cortex, medial portion, PRh Perirhinal cortex, PVT Paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus, pPVT Paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus, posterior portion.
