Presence of pSTAT5 in preoptic galanin neurons. a pSTAT5 immunoreactivity in the preoptic area. a1 pSTAT5-positive cells in mother rat 2 h after the start of suckling. a2 pSTAT5 immunoreactivity in mother rats deprived of their pups for 24 h. pSTAT5-ir neurons are abundant in the medial preoptic nucleus (MPN) and the area dorsal to it, including the anterior commissural nucleus (ACN). In contrast, only a few pSTAT5-ir neurons are present in the medial preoptic area (MPA) lateral to the MPN. b Galanin-ir neurons (green) are present in the ACN and in the MPA, where pSTAT5-ir (red) neurons are also present 2 h after the start of suckling. c A high-magnification confocal image demonstrates that in the ACN, the majority of galanin-ir neurons contain pSTAT5 immunoreactivity (white arrows). f fornix, och optic chiasm, sm stria medullaris, 3V third ventricle. Scale bars 500 μm for a and b, and 50 μm for c