RNA-sequencing Reveals Altered Gene Expression in the Ventromedial Hypothalamus Following Predator Odor Exposure

It is unknown how the VMH regulates skeletal muscle metabolism and predator threat responses, or potential interactions between these. Because skeletal muscle has a great capacity for increasing energy expenditure and is rapidly activated by PO, understanding how the VMH regulates this process could uncover novel targets for obesity treatments. Due to lack of investigation, we sought to provide a foundation for mechanistic exploration. We report transcriptome-wide alterations of the VMH following PO exposure. Our results uncovered novel functional relationships among genes that can now be probed to better understand the dual processing role of the VMH in skeletal muscle metabolism and predator-threat responses. We compared two conditions run in triplicate. Specifically, we compared the RNA-seq results of 3 Sprague Dawley rats exposed to predator odor to 3 Sprague Dawley rats exposed to control odor.