Fig. 3

N/OFQ inhibits glutamatergic input from SF-1 neurons impinging onto POMC neurons from NR5A1-Cre mice via NOP receptor activation. The membrane current traces on the left represent baseline leEPSCs measured prior to bath application of N/OFQ, while the ones on the right were obtained in the presence of N/OFQ, alone and in the presence of the NOP receptor antagonist BAN ORL 24. a The N/OFQ-induced reduction in leEPSC amplitude can be seen in slices treated with N/OFQ (1 μM; n = 8); however, the co-application of N/OFQ and BAN abolished this effect (b; n = 5). The composite bar graph in c further illustrates the inhibitory effects that N/OFQ has on excitatory neurotransmission emanating from the dorsomedial VMN due to NOP activation. Bars represent means and vertical lines 1 SEM of the leEPSC amplitude in the presence of N/OFQ, alone, and in conjunction with BAN, which was normalized to that observed under baseline control conditions. *p < 0.05; Mann-Whitney U test