Characterization of a mammalian prosencephalic functional plan

Understanding the Significance of the Hypothalamic Nature of the Subthalamic Nucleus

The subthalamic nucleus (STN) is an essential component of the basal ganglia and has long been considered to be a part of the ventral thalamus. However, recent neurodevelopmental data indicated that this nucleus is of hypothalamic origin which is now commonly acknowledged. In this work, we aimed to verify whether the inclusion of the STN in the hypothalamus could influence the way we understand and conduct research on the organization of the whole ventral and posterior diencephalon. Developmental and neurochemical data indicate that the STN is part of a larger glutamatergic posterior hypothalamic region that includes the premammillary and mammillary nuclei. The main anatomic characteristic common to this region involves the convergent cortical and pallidal projections that it receives, which is based on the model of the hyperdirect and indirect pathways to the STN. This whole posterior hypothalamic region is then integrated into distinct functional networks that interact with the ventral mesencephalon to adjust behavior depending on external and internal contexts.

A Highly Conserved Shh Enhancer Coordinates Hypothalamic and Craniofacial Development

Enhancers that are conserved deep in evolutionary time regulate characteristics held in common across taxonomic classes. Here, deletion of the highly conserved Shh enhancer SBE2 (Shh brain enhancer 2) in mouse markedly reduced Shh expression within the embryonic brain specifically in the rostral diencephalon; however, no abnormal anatomical phenotype was observed. Secondary enhancer activity was subsequently identified which likely mediates low levels of expression. In contrast, when crossing the SBE2 deletion with the Shh null allele, brain and craniofacial development were disrupted; thus, linking SBE2 regulated Shh expression to multiple defects and further enabling the study of the effects of differing levels of Shh on embryogenesis. Development of the hypothalamus, derived from the rostral diencephalon, was disrupted along both the anterior-posterior (AP) and the dorsal-ventral (DV) axes. Expression of DV patterning genes and subsequent neuronal population induction were particularly sensitive to Shh expression levels, demonstrating a novel morphogenic context for Shh. The role of SBE2, which is highlighted by DV gene expression, is to step-up expression of Shh above the minimal activity of the second enhancer, ensuring the necessary levels of Shh in a regional-specific manner. We also show that low Shh levels in the diencephalon disrupted neighbouring craniofacial development, including mediolateral patterning of the bones along the cranial floor and viscerocranium. Thus, SBE2 contributes to hypothalamic morphogenesis and ensures there is coordination with the formation of the adjacent midline cranial bones that subsequently protect the neural tissue.

Developmental Genes and Malformations in the Hypothalamus

The hypothalamus is a heterogeneous rostral forebrain region that regulates physiological processes essential for survival, energy metabolism, and reproduction, mainly mediated by the pituitary gland. In the updated prosomeric model, the hypothalamus represents the rostralmost forebrain, composed of two segmental regions (terminal and peduncular hypothalamus), which extend respectively into the non-evaginated preoptic telencephalon and the evaginated pallio-subpallial telencephalon. Complex genetic cascades of transcription factors and signaling molecules rule their development. Alterations of some of these molecular mechanisms acting during forebrain development are associated with more or less severe hypothalamic and pituitary dysfunctions, which may be associated with brain malformations such as holoprosencephaly or septo-optic dysplasia. Studies on transgenic mice with mutated genes encoding critical transcription factors implicated in hypothalamic-pituitary development are contributing to understanding the high clinical complexity of these pathologies. In this review article, we will analyze first the complex molecular genoarchitecture of the hypothalamus resulting from the activity of previous morphogenetic signaling centers and secondly some malformations related to alterations in genes implicated in the development of the hypothalamus.

Hypothalamic Structural and Functional Imbalances in Anorexia Nervosa

The hypothalamus contains integrative systems that support life, including physiological processes such as food intake, energy expenditure, and reproduction. Here, we show that anorexia nervosa (AN) patients, contrary to normal weight and constitutionally lean individuals, respond with a paradoxical reduction in hypothalamic levels of glutamate/glutamine (Glx) upon feeding. This reversal of the Glx response is associated with decreased wiring in the arcuate nucleus and increased connectivity in the lateral hypothalamic area, which are involved in the regulation on a variety of physiological and behavioral functions including the control of food intake and energy balance. The identification of distinct hypothalamic neurochemical dysfunctions and associated structural variations in AN paves the way for the development of new diagnostic and treatment strategies in conditions associated with abnormal body mass index and a maladaptive response to negative energy balance.

The claustrum is a target for projections from the supramammillary nucleus in the rat

Injection of the anterograde tracer Phaseolus vulgaris leucoagglutinin (PHAL) into the rat rostral and caudal supramammillary nucleus (SUM) provided expected patterns of projections into the hippocampus and the septal region. In addition, unexpectedly intense projections were observed into the claustrum defined by parvalbumin expression. Injections of the retrograde tracer fluorogold (FG) into the hippocampus and the region of the claustrum showed that the cells of origin of these projections distributed similarly within the borders of the SUM. The SUM is usually involved in control of hippocampal theta activity, but the observation of intense projections into the claustrum indicates that it may also influence isocortical processes. Therefore, the SUM may coordinate sensory processing in the isocortex with memory formation in the hippocampus.

The Shark Basal Hypothalamus: Molecular Prosomeric Subdivisions and Evolutionary Trends

The hypothalamus is a key integrative center of the vertebrate brain. To better understand its ancestral morphological organization and evolution, we previously analyzed the segmental organization of alar subdivisions in the catshark Scyliorhinus canicula, a cartilaginous fish and thus a basal representative of gnathostomes (jawed vertebrates). With the same aim, we deepen here in the segmental organization of the catshark basal hypothalamus by revisiting previous data on ScOtp, ScDlx2/5, ScNkx2.1, ScShh expression and Shh immunoreactivity jointly with new data on ScLhx5, ScEmx2, ScLmx1b, ScPitx2, ScPitx3a, ScFoxa1, ScFoxa2 and ScNeurog2 expression and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) immunoreactivity. Our study reveals a complex genoarchitecture for chondrichthyan basal hypothalamus on which a total of 21 microdomains were identified. Six belong to the basal acroterminal region, the rostral-most point of the basal neural tube; seven are described in the tuberal region (Tu/RTu); four in the perimamillar region (PM/PRM) and four in the mamillar one (MM/RM). Interestingly, the same set of genes does not necessarily describe the same microdomains in mice, which in part contributes to explain how forebrain diversity is achieved. This study stresses the importance of analyzing data from basal vertebrates to better understand forebrain diversity and hypothalamic evolution.

The Shark Alar Hypothalamus: Molecular Characterization of Prosomeric Subdivisions and Evolutionary Trends

The hypothalamus is an important physiologic center of the vertebrate brain involved in the elaboration of individual and species survival responses. To better understand the ancestral organization of the alar hypothalamus we revisit previous data on ScOtp, ScDlx2/5, ScTbr1, ScNkx2.1 expression and Pax6 immunoreactivity jointly with new data on ScNeurog2, ScLhx9, ScLhx5, and ScNkx2.8 expression, in addition to immunoreactivity to serotonin (5-HT) and doublecortin (DCX) in the catshark Scyliorhinus canicula, a key species for this purpose since cartilaginous fishes are basal representatives of gnathostomes (jawed vertebrates). Our study revealed a complex genoarchitecture for the chondrichthyan alar hypothalamus. We identified terminal (rostral) and peduncular (caudal) subdivisions in the prosomeric paraventricular and subparaventricular areas (TPa/PPa and TSPa/PSPa, respectively) evidenced by the expression pattern of developmental genes like ScLhx5 (TPa) and immunoreactivity against Pax6 (PSPa) and 5-HT (PPa and PSPa). Dorso-ventral subdivisions were only evidenced in the SPa (SPaD, SPaV; respectively) by means of Pax6 and ScNkx2.8 (respectively). Interestingly, ScNkx2.8 expression overlaps over the alar-basal boundary, as Nkx2.2 does in other vertebrates. Our results reveal evidences for the existence of different groups of tangentially migrated cells expressing ScOtp, Pax6, and ScDlx2. The genoarchitectonic comparative analysis suggests alternative interpretations of the rostral-most alar plate in prosomeric terms and reveals a conserved molecular background for the vertebrate alar hypothalamus likely acquired before/during the agnathan-gnathostome transition, on which Otp, Pax6, Lhx5, and Neurog2 are expressed in the Pa while Dlx and Nkx2.2/Nkx2.8 are expressed in the SPa.

Electrophysiology of Hypothalamic Magnocellular Neurons In vitro: A Rhythmic Drive in Organotypic Cultures and Acute Slices

Hypothalamic neurohormones are released in a pulsatile manner. The mechanisms of this pulsatility remain poorly understood and several hypotheses are available, depending upon the neuroendocrine system considered. Among these systems, hypothalamo-neurohypophyseal magnocellular neurons have been early-considered models, as they typically display an electrical activity consisting of bursts of action potentials that is optimal for the release of boluses of the neurohormones oxytocin and vasopressin. The cellular mechanisms underlying this bursting behavior have been studied in vitro, using either acute slices of the adult hypothalamus, or organotypic cultures of neonatal hypothalamic tissue. We have recently proposed, from experiments in organotypic cultures, that specific central pattern generator networks, upstream of magnocellular neurons, determine their bursting activity. Here, we have tested whether a similar hypothesis can be derived from in vitro experiments in acute slices of the adult hypothalamus. To this aim we have screened our electrophysiological recordings of the magnocellular neurons, previously obtained from acute slices, with an analysis of autocorrelation of action potentials to detect a rhythmic drive as we recently did for organotypic cultures. This confirmed that the bursting behavior of magnocellular neurons is governed by central pattern generator networks whose rhythmic drive, and thus probably integrity, is however less satisfactorily preserved in the acute slices from adult brains.

The Role of Hypothalamic Neuropeptides in Neurogenesis and Neuritogenesis

The hypothalamus is a source of neural progenitor cells which give rise to different populations of specialized and differentiated cells during brain development. Newly formed neurons in the hypothalamus can synthesize and release various neuropeptides. Although term neuropeptide recently undergoes redefinition, small-size hypothalamic neuropeptides remain major signaling molecules mediating short- and long-term effects on brain development. They represent important factors in neurite growth and formation of neural circuits. There is evidence suggesting that the newly generated hypothalamic neurons may be involved in regulation of metabolism, energy balance, body weight, and social behavior as well. Here we review recent data on the role of hypothalamic neuropeptides in adult neurogenesis and neuritogenesis with special emphasis on the development of food intake and social behavior related brain circuits.