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Updated: Dec 25, 2025

Membrane Potential Dye Imaging of Ventromedial Hypothalamus Neurons From Adult Mice to Study Glucose Sensing
Published on: November 27, 2013
Glucose in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus regulates GLP-1 release
Yue Ma1, Risheka Ratnasabapathy1, Ivan De Backer1
1Section of Endocrinology and Investigative Medicine and.
Abstract:
Glucokinase (GK) is highly expressed in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN); however, its role is currently unknown. We found that GK in the PVN acts as part of a glucose-sensing mechanism within the PVN that regulates glucose homeostasis by controlling glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) release. GLP-1 is released from enteroendocrine L cells in response to oral glucose. Here we identify a brain mechanism critical to the release of GLP-1 in response to oral glucose. We show that increasing expression of GK or injection of glucose into the PVN increases GLP-1 release in response to oral glucose. On the contrary, decreasing expression of GK or injection of nonmetabolizable glucose into the PVN prevents GLP-1 release. Our results demonstrate that gluco-sensitive GK neurons in the PVN are critical to the response to oral glucose and subsequent release of GLP-1.
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