Responses to neuropeptide Y in adult hamster suprachiasmatic nucleus neurones in vitro

We investigated the effects of neuropeptide Y and related analogues on the extracellularly recorded spontaneous firing rate activity of adult Syrian hamster suprachiasmatic nucleus neurones in vitro. Sixty-seven neurones were tested with neuropeptide Y: 45% were suppressed, 4% were activated, and the remaining 51% were unresponsive. These responses were not blocked by the GABA receptor antagonist bicuculline, indicating that neuropeptide Y-evoked responses did not appear to be dependent on GABA(A) receptor activation. We tested the effects of the neuropeptide Y Y1 receptor agonist [Leu31, Pro34]neuropeptide Y and the neuropeptide Y Y2 receptor agonist neuropeptide Y-(13-36) on nine cells suppressed by neuropeptide Y in order to determine the receptor subtype(s) mediating the effects of neuropeptide Y. Four of nine cells were suppressed by [Leu31, Pro34]neuropeptide Y only, one of nine was suppressed by neuropeptide Y-(13-36) only, two of nine were suppressed by both compounds, while the remaining two cells did not respond to either compound. These data suggest that neuropeptide Y can modulate suprachiasmatic nucleus function directly, without recruitment of GABA(A) interneurones. Further, our results indicate that neuropeptide Y may act on more than one receptor subtype within the adult hamster suprachiasmatic nucleus.