Gene expression profile at single cell level of cells derived from the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus (ARC) of mice fed with standard chow (SC) or high-fat high-sugar (HFHS) diet

Hypercaloric diet affects hypothalamic cells at different levels. However, the time-dependent transcriptional changes of hypothalamic cells, and more particularly ARC cells, following the exposure to a HFHS diet are largely unknown. We used single cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-Seq) to analyze the impact of HFHS diet feeding on the transcriptional profile of ARC cells at different timepoints, with a special focus on astrocytes. The timepoints analyzed consist in 5 and 15 days of HFHS diet exposure, at which mice gain a not significant or a significant body weight respectively. ARC tissue derived from C57BL/6JRj mice fed with SC diet (control), 5 days of HFHS (58%) diet, and 15 days of HFHS (58%) diet was dissociated by enzymatic digestion into single cells, which were then analyzed by scRNA-Seq. Per each experimental group, the ARCs from 6 animals were pulled into one sample.