Skip to main content
. 2021 Apr 30;15:671473. doi: 10.3389/fncel.2021.671473

Figure 6.

Figure 6

Chemogenetic inhibition of the VTA-NAc pathway regulates the induction and emergence processes of sevoflurane anesthesia. (A) Schematic of the experimental protocol. Cre-dependent hM4Di was injected into the VTA of mice, while retrograde cre was injected into the NAc. (B) Expression of hM4Di-EGFP (green) and retrograde cre-mCherry (red) in the VTA and NAc shows dopaminergic projections from the VTA to the NAc in the mouse brain (above). Scale bars: 200 μm. Immunofluorescence of cre-mCherry (red) and TH (green) in the VTA (below). Scale bars: 100 μm. (C) Experimental timeline of the behavioral test and EEG recording. (D) CNO-mediated hM4Di inhibition notably reduced the LORR time. (E) CNO-mediated hM4Di inhibition significantly prolonged the RORR time. (F) CNO-mediated inhibition increased the ratio of the δ band but reduced the ratio of the β and γ bands during LORR. (G) CNO-mediated inhibition led to an increased power of the δ band and decreased powers of the α, β and γ bands during RORR. (H,I) Representative EEG traces and heat map from the two groups. CNO: clozapine N-oxide. Data are presented as the mean ± SD. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001 and ****p<0.0001, n = 8, by paired and unpaired t-test.