Fig. 2

Confocal images of Fos expression in nesfatin-1/NucB2-ir neurons in the supraoptic nucleus (SON), paraventricular nucleus (PVN), and arcuate nucleus (ARC) after chemogenetic activation of endogenous AVP. Confocal images were obtained from the transgenic rats at 120 min after subcutaneously treated with Saline (1 mL/kg) (a–d) or CNO (1 mg/mL/kg) (e–h). mCherry (a, e) (magenta), Fos-ir (b, f) (green), nesfatin-1/NucB2-ir (c, g) (white), and their merged images (d, h) of the SON (A), PVN (B), and ARC (C) are represented. Rectangles encompassed by yellow dotted lines are magnified in the panels (h) (A–C). Co-expression of the neurons that expressed endogenous fluorescence or immunoreactivity (i) were counted in each nucleus (A–C). Scale bars, 200 μm. Scale bars in magnified images, 50 μm. Data are presented as mean ± SEM (n = 5, each). **P < 0.01 vs. Saline. D Nesfatin-1/NucB2-ir, and nesfatin-1/NucB2-ir neurons expressing Fos in the SON, PVN, and ARC either treated with Saline or CNO are mapped by white and red circles, respectively. Scale bars indicate 200 µm. 3V third ventricle, ME median eminence