Fig. 3. NPY is necessary for the acute feeding response upon optogenetic activation of AgRP neurons.

a, b Cumulative and total food intake upon AgRP neuronal activation in the presence and in the absence of NPY (n = 7 mice for NPY^wt/wt, NPY^Δ/Δ and ChR2^AgRP; NPY^Δ/Δ, and n = 9 mice for ChR2^AgRP; NPY^wt/wt). c Food intake one hour prior to light illumination of the ARC (pre) and one hour after lasers were turned off (post) is similar in all genotypes (n = 7 mice for NPY^wt/wt, NPY^Δ/Δ and ChR2^AgRP; NPY^Δ/Δ, and n = 9 mice for ChR2^AgRP; NPY^wt/wt). d Cumulative food intake in the absence of light illumination (n = 4 mice for NPY^wt/wt and ChR2^AgRP; NPY^Δ/Δ, n = 3 mice ChR2^AgRP; NPY^wt/wt and n = 5 mice for NPY^Δ/Δ). Data are shown as mean ± s.e.m. Statistical analysis is represented by *p ≤ 0.05, ***p ≤ 0.001, ****p ≤ 0.0001, ^#p ≤ 0.05, and ^####p ≤ 0.0001 as determined by two-way ANOVA followed by Tukey post hoc test. # represents comparisons between NPY-expressing and NPY-deficient animals. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.