Silencing relaxin-3 in nucleus incertus of adult rodents: A viral vector-based approach to investigate neuropeptide function

GE Callander; S Ma; DE Ganella; VC Wimmer; AL Gundlach; WG Thomas; RAD Bathgate

Journal article

Silencing relaxin-3 in nucleus incertus of adult rodents: A viral vector-based approach to investigate neuropeptide function

GE Callander, S Ma, DE Ganella, VC Wimmer, AL Gundlach, WG Thomas, RAD Bathgate

Plos One | PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE | Published : 2012

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0042300

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Abstract

Relaxin-3, the most recently identified member of the relaxin peptide family, is produced by GABAergic projection neurons in the nucleus incertus (NI), in the pontine periventricular gray. Previous studies suggest relaxin-3 is a modulator of stress responses, metabolism, arousal and behavioural activation. Knockout mice and peptide infusions in vivo have significantly contributed to understanding the function of this conserved neuropeptide. Yet, a definitive role remains elusive due to discrepancies between models and a propensity to investigate pharmacological effects over endogenous function. To investigate the endogenous function of relaxin-3, we generated a recombinant adeno-associated v..

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Verena Wimmer Author

Ross Bathgate Author

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Awarded by National Health and Medical Research Council

Funding Acknowledgements

This research was supported by National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (NHMRC, www.nhmrc.gov.au http://www.nhmrc.gov.au) project grants 1005988 (Andrew L. Gundlach, Ross A. D. Bathgate) and 520299 (Sherie Ma), and by the Victorian Government Operational Infrastructure Support Program (www.business.vic.gov.au http://www.business.vic.gov.au). Gabrielle E. Callander was a recipient of a Melbourne Research Scholarship from The University of Melbourne. Despina E. Ganella is a recipient of an Australian Postgraduate Award, Andrew L. Gundlach and Ross A. D. Bathgate were recipients of Senior Research Fellowships and Sherie Ma was the recipient of a Biomedical Postdoctoral Fellowship from NHMRC, Australia. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.