Extended Data Fig. 5: PVNOT fibers can decrease mHR via DMV connectivity in adult anesthetized mice.
a-f, Photoexcitation of PVNOT fibers either in the preBötC/nA or in the DMV of anesthetized OT::Cre;Ai27(LSL-ChR2) adult mice induce the same effects, both before or after injection of the OT-R antagonist ((d(CH2)₅¹,Tyr(Me)²,Thr⁴,Orn⁸,des-Gly-NH2⁹)-Vasotocin, 200 nl at 1 µM) in the preBötC/nA (n = 6 for preBötC/nA and DMV before OT-R antagonist, n = 7 for preBötC/nA and DMV after OT-R antagonist). Traces in (c) were obtained in the conditions shown above in (a). b, Fluorescent microbeads in the injectate solutions enabled the localization of the injection spots for the OT-R antagonist or vehicle a posteriori (n = 9 mice for OT-R antagonist injections and n = 5 mice for vehicle injections, mapped in Extended Data Fig. 4b). Scale bar, 500 µm. d, repeated-measures one-way ANOVA, Tukey’s multiple comparison. e, repeated-measures one-way ANOVA, Tukey’s multiple comparison. f, Δ changes (photoexcitation vs. pre-photoexcitation), repeated-measures one-way ANOVA, Tukey’s multiple comparison. Comparisons before and after OT-R antagonist injection (preBötC/nA vs. DMV), paired two-sided t-test. g, CUBIC clearing of thick (1 mm) coronal brainstem slices at the level of the preBötC/nA in OT::GFP mice (n = 3 mice) shows OT fibers crossing both the preBötC/nA and the DMV. Scale bar, 500 µm. Detailed statistics are presented in Supplementary Table 1.
