Enteric neurons increase maternal food intake during reproduction

Dafni Hadjieconomou, George King, Pedro Gaspar, Alessandro Mineo, Laura Blackie, Tomotsune Ameku, Chris Studd, Alex Mendoza, Fengqiu Diao, Benjamin H. White, André E. X. Brown, Pierre-Yves Plaçais, Thomas Préat and Irene Miguel-Aliaga ()
Additional contact information
Dafni Hadjieconomou: MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences
George King: MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences
Pedro Gaspar: MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences
Alessandro Mineo: MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences
Laura Blackie: MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences
Tomotsune Ameku: MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences
Chris Studd: MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences
Alex Mendoza: The University of Western Australia
Fengqiu Diao: National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health
Benjamin H. White: National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health
André E. X. Brown: MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences
Pierre-Yves Plaçais: CNRS, ESPCI Paris, PSL Research University
Thomas Préat: CNRS, ESPCI Paris, PSL Research University
Irene Miguel-Aliaga: MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences

Nature, 2020, vol. 587, issue 7834, 455-459

Abstract: Abstract Reproduction induces increased food intake across females of many animal species1–4, providing a physiologically relevant paradigm for the exploration of appetite regulation. Here, by examining the diversity of enteric neurons in Drosophila melanogaster, we identify a key role for gut-innervating neurons with sex- and reproductive state-specific activity in sustaining the increased food intake of mothers during reproduction. Steroid and enteroendocrine hormones functionally remodel these neurons, which leads to the release of their neuropeptide onto the muscles of the crop—a stomach-like organ—after mating. Neuropeptide release changes the dynamics of crop enlargement, resulting in increased food intake, and preventing the post-mating remodelling of enteric neurons reduces both reproductive hyperphagia and reproductive fitness. The plasticity of enteric neurons is therefore key to reproductive success. Our findings provide a mechanism to attain the positive energy balance that sustains gestation, dysregulation of which could contribute to infertility or weight gain.

Date: 2020
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2866-8 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:nature:v:587:y:2020:i:7834:d:10.1038_s41586-020-2866-8

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2866-8

Access Statistics for this article

Nature is currently edited by Magdalena Skipper

More articles in Nature from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().