A temperature-regulated circuit for feeding behavior

Abstract Both rodents and primates have evolved to orchestrate food intake to maintain thermal homeostasis in coping with ambient temperature challenges. However, the mechanisms underlying temperature-coordinated feeding behavior are rarely reported. Here we found that a non-canonical feeding center, the anteroventral and periventricular portions of medial preoptic area (apMPOA) responded to altered dietary states. Two neighboring but distinct apMPOA neurons mediated feeding in receiving anatomical inputs from external and dorsal subnuclei of lateral parabrachial nucleus (LPB). While both populations are glutamatergic, the arcuate nucleus (ARC)-projecting neurons in apMPOA can sense low temperature and promote food intake. The other type, the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus (PVH)-projecting neurons in apMPOA are primarily sensitive to high temperature and suppress food intake. Cutting off both pathways can eliminate the temperature-dependence of feeding. Further projection-specific RNA sequencing identified that the two neuronal populations were molecularly marked by galanin receptor and apelin receptor. These findings reveal an unrecognized cell populations and circuits of apMPOA that orchestrates feeding behavior against thermal challenges.