Fig. 7: Ecel1 positive neurons in the rostral ZI are required for water spray induced self-grooming. | Nature Communications

Fig. 7: Ecel1 positive neurons in the rostral ZI are required for water spray induced self-grooming.

From: Transcriptomic and spatial GABAergic neuron subtypes in zona incerta mediate distinct innate behaviors

Fig. 7: Ecel1 positive neurons in the rostral ZI are required for water spray induced self-grooming.

a Schematic diagram and representative images showing the stereotaxic bilateral injection of AAV-DIO-hM3Dq-mCherry or AAV-DIO-mCherry in the ZIr of Ecel1-Cre mice. Scale bar, 100 μm. The experiment was independently repeated 5 times with similar results. b–d Statistic analysis of time spent for self-grooming (b), grooming bouts (c) and grooming duration per bout (d) in 20 min following injection of CNO in hM3Dq-group mice compared with mCherry-group mice. **P = 0.0097, *P = 0.0336. e Schematic diagram and representative images showing the injection of AAV-DIO-hM4Di-mCherry to chemogenetically inhibit ZIrEcel1 neurons of Ecel1-Cre mice. Scale bar, 100 μm. The experiment was independently repeated 7 times with similar results. f The behavioral paradigm for measurement of water-spray induced self-grooming behavior following injection of CNO in hM4Di-group or mCherry-group mice. g–i Statistic analysis of time spent for water-spray induced self-grooming (g), grooming bouts (h) and grooming duration per bout (i) in 20 min following injection of CNO in hM4Di mice. *P = 0.0117, **P = 0.0018. j Schematic diagram showing the stereotaxic bilateral injection of AAV-DIO-DTA to ablate the ZIrEcel1 neurons of Ecel1-Cre mice. k–m Statistic analysis of water-spray induced self-grooming time (k), grooming bouts (l) and grooming duration per bout (m) in 20 min following water spray in DTA-group mice. ****P < 0.0001, **P = 0.0036. Two-tailed unpaired t-test for (b–d), (g–i) and (k–m). Data are presented as mean ± SEM. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.

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