Figure 1. Characterization of VMHvll^Cckar cells.

(A) Cckar and Cre mRNA in the VMHvl of a Cckar^Cre female mouse.

(B) Overlap between VMHvll Cre and Cckar mRNA.

(C) Esr1 staining in the VMHvl of a Cckar^Cre;Ai6 female mouse.

(D) Overlap between VMHvll Esr1 and Cckar.

(E) Immunostaining of sexual behavior induced Fos (Fos^Sex) in the VMHvl of a Cckar^Cre;Ai6 female mouse.

(F) Overlap between VMHvll Cckar and Fos^Sex.

(G) Retrobead-labeled VMHvll cells from AVPV of a Cckar^Cre;Ai6 female mouse. Insert shows injection site.

(H) Overlap between Cckar and retrobead cells in VMHvll.

(I) The percentage of Esr1, Cckar, Fos^Sex and retrobeads cells in VMHvll in DAPI+ cells.

(J) Viral strategy for axon tracing of VMHvll^Cckar cells.

(K) GFP expression in the VMHvll^Ccka cells. Inset, the zoom-in view of the boxed area.

(L) GFP expressing terminals from VMHvll^Cckar at AVPV, BNST and mPOA.

(M) The top five brain regions that receive inputs from VMHvll^Cckar.

In (A, C, E, G), right shows the enlarged view of the boxed area. Dotted lines demarcate VMH subdivisions. In (D, F, H), horizontal dashed lines indicate the chance level of overlap.

Data are mean ± s.e.m. (D, F, H) One sample t test. *p<0.05; **p<0.01; ***p<0.001.

n = 3 animals (B, D, F, H, I, M).

See also Figures S1–S3.