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Osmoregulatory Circuits in Slices and En Bloc Preparations of Rodent Hypothalamus

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Isolated Central Nervous System Circuits

Part of the book series: Neuromethods ((NM,volume 73))

Abstract

Osmoregulatory neural networks in the mammalian hypothalamus are responsible for keeping plasma osmolality near a constant set point. This process involves primary osmosensory neurons located in the organum vasculosum lamina terminalis (OVLT) and effector neurons located elsewhere in the hypothalamus and in other parts of the brain. Hypothalamic effector neurons include vasopressin (VP)- and oxytocin (OT)-releasing magnocellular neurosecretory cells (MNCs) in the supraoptic (SON) and paraventricular nuclei. Osmotically induced changes in action potential discharge by MNCs cause proportional changes in VP and OT release into the blood to modulate water and sodium excretion at the kidney. This osmotic regulation of firing rate in MNCs plays a critical role in the maintenance of body fluid balance. In this chapter, we describe spontaneously active in vitro preparations of rodent hypothalamus that have been developed for the specific purpose of studying how osmosensory neurons in the OVLT and other hypothalamic structures regulate MNCs in the SON.

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Acknowledgments

Work in our lab is supported by operating grants MOP-9939 and MOP-82818 from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and by a James McGill Professor Chair to CWB. JRS and SC were recipients of Canada Graduate Scholarships. TJS was recipient of a CIHR doctoral Award and ET received a Doctoral Award from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. The Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre is supported by the Fonds de la Recherche en Santé du Québec.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Research in Neuroscience, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Tevye J. Stachniak, Jessica R. Sudbury, Eric Trudel, Katrina Y. Choe & Sorana Ciura

  2. Montreal General Hospital Campus, Centre for Research in Neuroscience, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Charles W. Bourque

Authors
  1. Tevye J. Stachniak
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  2. Jessica R. Sudbury
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  3. Eric Trudel
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  4. Katrina Y. Choe
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  5. Sorana Ciura
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  6. Charles W. Bourque
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Correspondence to Charles W. Bourque .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, Department of Physiology and Centre for, University of Alberta, N/A 232D, Edmonton, T6G 2S2, Alberta, Canada

    Klaus Ballanyi

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Stachniak, T.J., Sudbury, J.R., Trudel, E., Choe, K.Y., Ciura, S., Bourque, C.W. (2012). Osmoregulatory Circuits in Slices and En Bloc Preparations of Rodent Hypothalamus. In: Ballanyi, K. (eds) Isolated Central Nervous System Circuits. Neuromethods, vol 73. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-62703-020-5_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-62703-020-5_6

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ

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