Differential effects of chronic dehydration on protein synthesis in neurons of the rat hypothalamus

The rate of methionine incorporation was measured in individual hypothalamic nuclei by a quantitative autoradiographic technique: the L-[35S]methionine method. Physiological stimulation of the hypothalamo-neurohypophysial system by two days of water deprivation, a stress that increased the plasma total neurophysins concentration 4-5-fold, resulted in a 70-80% increase in overall protein synthesis in the supraoptic nucleus and in the magnocellular subdivisions of the paraventricular nucleus. The same stimulus had no effect on protein synthesis rate of the suprachiasmatic nucleus and of the other representative cerebral structures examined. This differential effect on protein synthesis was also observed within the paraventricular nucleus.