A proteomic approach to investigate the changes within the rat hypothalamo-neurohypophyseal system induced by dehydration

Abstract

The neuropeptide hormone arginine vasopressin (VP) is produced in the magnocellular neurons of the hypothalamic supraoptic (SON) and paraventricular (PVN) nuclei and stored in the posterior pituitary (PP). Dehydration evokes an up‐regulation of the expression of the VP gene in magnocellular neurons and a massive release of the peptide from the PP in the circulation to promote water conservation at the level of the kidney. In parallel, a functional remodelling of the hypothalamo‐neurohypophyseal system (HNS) is observed but not totally understood. To investigate this activity dependent plasticity of the HNS in terms of coordinated action of cellular and protein networks, we have used proteomi..