Astrocytic circadian clock control of energy expenditure by transcriptional stress responses in the ventromedial hypothalamus

Mice carrying a mutation which deletes Bmal1 in Gfap-expressing astrocytes, and control animals were fed either a standard diet or a high fat diet for 16 weeks. Conditional deletion of Bmal1 in Gfap cells decreased weight gain and increased energy expenditure under high fat diet, hence the transcriptome of Brown Adipose Tissue (BAT) and Ventromedial Hypothalamus (VMH) were obtained. Four experimental groups were studied: control mice fed standard diet, Gfap-Bmal1 cKO mice fed a standard diet, control mice fed a high fat diet and Gfap-Bmal1 cKO fed a high fat diet