Activation of mTOR signaling in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN) contributes to stress- and BDNF-induced hypertensive responses
Authors: Erdos Benedek , Cataldo Noelle , Husain Jenan , Weston Matthew 
Published: May 2023

The paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN) integrates afferent inputs from limbic, medullary and hypothalamic regions to orchestrate cardiovascular stress responses via its medullary and spinal projections. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is an important pro-hypertensive regulator in the PVN upregulated during stress that transforms the PVN neurocircuitry to facilitate responsiveness to hypertensive stimuli by shifting the balance of excitatory/inhibitory synaptic mechanisms. Mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR), as part of mTOR complex-1 (mTORC1), is stimulated by trophic factors, such as BDNF, in other brain regions to induce changes in neuronal morphology and increases in neuronal excitability. We tested the hypothesis that activation of mTORC1 in the PVN by BDNF and acute stress plays a key role in stimulating hypertensive responses. Male Sprague Dawley (SD) rats (n=4/group) received bilateral PVN injections of AAV2 viral vectors expressing myc-tagged BDNF (BDNFmyc), shRNA against TSC1 (a repressor of mTORC1) to stimulate mTORC1, shRNA against Raptor (a key component of the mTORC1) to inhibit mTORC1 or GFP for control. Blood pressure and heart rate were monitored by telemetry for 4 wks, and cardiovascular responses to restraint (60min) and water stress (15 minutes, 1-cm deep, 25°C water) were recorded 4-5 wks after vector injections. Vector injections were confirmed and neuronal morphology as well as pS6 levels (a marker of mTOR activity) were analyzed with immunofluorescence. Activation mTORC1 with TSC1 knock-down significantly increased resting blood pressure compared with control, but inhibition of mTORC1 with Raptor knock-down had no effect. BDNF overexpression significantly elevated blood pressure, as we have shown previously, and these increases were completely abolished by Raptor knock-down (daytime mean arterial pressure: shTSC1: 108.0±1.4*; BDNFmyc: 131.4±2.5*; shRaptor: 101.8±0.9; BDNF+shRaptor: 102.7±2.8#, GFP: 96.5±1.8 mmHg at week 4, *p<0.05 vs GFP; #p<0.05 vs. BDNFmyc). In addition, mTORC1 inhibition with Raptor knock-down also significantly diminished stress-induced hypertensive responses. Maximum blood pressure increase in shRaptor rats was 30.3±1.3 mmHg during restraint and 26.0±3.4 mmHg during water stress vs 43.8±2.2 and 37.4±2.5 mmHg in control rats (p<0.05). Immunofluorescence of pS6, an indicator of mTOR activity, and neuronal soma size were significantly elevated by both TSC1 knock-down and BDNF overexpression in the PVN, whereas Raptor knock-down reduced pS6 intensity and soma size and completely abolished the effects of BDNF. In summary, we demonstrated that mTOR activation in the PVN significantly increased blood pressure both during baseline conditions and during acute stress, and mediated hypertensive responses and neuronal morphological changes elicited by BDNF. Supported by R01 HL133211. R01 HL133211 (BE), R03 AG072016 (BE) This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2023 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.