Sex-Specific Roles for Melanin-Concentrating Hormone Neurons Linking the Neuroendocrine Reproductive Axis and Sleep

My dissertation research has centered around three aspects of reproductive physiology and the role of MCH neurons therein: lactation, the regulation of pubertal timing and fertility, and the effect of gonadal steroids on sleep architecture. Underlying and uniting these distinct elements is a focus on the transcriptional heterogeneity of MCH cells. Chapter 1 will provide background on MCH and its role in sleep, metabolism, and reproductive physiology. In Chapters 2-5, I focus on the fast neurotransmitter content of MCH cells: most fundamentally, what is the neurochemical identity of different populations of MCH neurons? What are the effects of isolating and disrupting fast neurotransmitter co-release from MCH neurons? Finally, can a consideration of the effects not just of the MCH peptide itself, but coreleased neurotransmitters, help to disambiguate some of the seemingly disparate functions of these neurons within the neuroendocrine reproductive axis? In Chapter 6, I consider additional key transcripts beyond the machinery of classical neurotransmission to define subsets of the MCH neuron population and probe their ability to affect the relationship between the sex steroid milieu and sleep. Finally, in Chapter 7, I will integrate the findings of the former chapters and situate them in the broader context of the MCH field, discuss the strengths and weaknesses of my studies, and outline future directions for this work.PhDNeuroscienceUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/176466/1/bgbeekly_1.pd