Figure 7. Glutamate signaling from the ventral premammillary nucleus (PMv) is required for leptin effect on pubertal development in female mouse.

(A, B, I, M) Microphotographs of the PMv showing pSTAT3-ir following leptin administration. Note lack of pSTAT3-ir in Lepr^loxTB mouse. (C, D, J, N) Darkfield microphotographs showing Slc17a6 mRNA (silver grains) in the PMv. Note decreased Slc17a6 mRNA expression in Lepr^loxTB;Vglut2^flox mice injected with AAV-Cre. (E, F, K, O) Microphotographs of representative single uterine horns. Note lack of uterine growth in Lepr^loxTB mouse and in Lepr^loxTB;Vglut2^flox mouse injected with AAV-Cre. (G, H, L, P) Microphotographs of representative ovary sections. Note lack of corpora lutea in Lepr^loxTB mouse and in Lepr^loxTB;Vglut2^flox mouse injected with AAV-Cre. 3V: third ventricle, Arc: arcuate nucleus, f: fornix, CL: Corpus luteum. Scale bars: 100 µm. (Q) Number of pSTAT3 expressing cells in the PMv in wild-type (n = 5), Lepr^loxTB (n = 5), AAV-CRE injected LepR^loxTB (n = 4), and AAV-CRE injected Lepr^loxTB;Vglut2^flox (n = 3) (F_3,13 = 73.53, p < 0.0001). Different capital letters indicate groups that are significantly different to the others (at least p<0.01) (R) Quantification of the Slc17a6 hybridization signal in the PMv AAV-CRE injected Lepr^loxTB (n = 4), and AAV-CRE injected Lepr^loxTB;Vglut2^flox (n = 6) (t₈ = 4.20; p = 0.003). (S) Number of pSTAT3 expressing cells in the Arc (F_3,16 = 171.8, p < 0.0001). (T) Number of corpora lutea in the ovary (F_3,17 = 31.16, p < 0.0001). **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001.