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Updated: Feb 1, 2026

Membrane Potential Dye Imaging of Ventromedial Hypothalamus Neurons From Adult Mice to Study Glucose Sensing
Published on: November 27, 2013
Spatially resolved molecular sex differences at single-cell resolution in the adult human ventromedial and arcuate
Bernard Mulvey1, Yi Wang2, Heena R Divecha3
1Lieber Institute for Brain Development, Johns Hopkins Medical Campus, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
Abstract:
The hypothalamus contains multiple regions, including the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) and arcuate (ARC), which are responsible for sex-differentiated functions such as endocrine signaling, metabolism, and reproductive behaviors. While molecular, anatomic, and sex-differentiated features of the rodent hypothalamus are well established, much less is known about these regions in humans. Here, we provide a spatially resolved single-cell atlas of sex-differentially expressed (sex-DE) genes in the human ARC and VMH. We identify neuronal populations governing hypothalamus-specific functions, define their spatial distributions, and show enrichment of sex-DE in retinoid metabolism- and retinoid receptor-regulated genes. Within the ARC and VMH, we find correlated autosomal expression differences localized to ESR1/TAC3-expressing and corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor 2 (CRHR2)-expressing neurons and extensive sex-DE genes linked to sex-biased disorders, including autism, depression, and schizophrenia. Our molecular mapping of disease associations to hypothalamic cell types with established roles in sex-divergent physiology and behavior provides insights into the mechanistic bases of sex bias in neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders.
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