González Vila, AntíaLuengo Mateos, MaríaSilveira Loureiro, MaríaGarrido Gil, PabloOhinska, NataliiaGonzález Domínguez, MarcoLabandeira García, José LuisGarcía Cáceres, CristinaLópez Pérez, Miguel A.Barca Mayo, Olga2025-01-182025-01-182023-01-21González Vila, A., Luengo Mateos, M., Silveira Loureiro, M., Garrido-Gil, P., Ohinska, N., González-Domínguez, M., Labandeira-García, J. L., García-Cáceres, C., López, M., & Barca Mayo, O. (2023). Astrocytic insulin receptor controls circadian behavior via dopamine signaling in a sexually dimorphic fashion. "Nature Communications", 14, 81752041-1723https://hdl.handle.net/10347/38691Mammalian circadian clocks respond to feeding and light cues, adjusting internal rhythms with day/night cycles. Astrocytes serve as circadian timekeepers, driving daily physiological rhythms; however, it’s unknown how they ensure precise cycle-to-cycle rhythmicity. This is critical for understanding why mistimed or erratic feeding, as in shift work, disrupts circadian physiology- a condition linked to type 2 diabetes and obesity. Here, we show that astrocytic insulin signaling sets the free-running period of locomotor activity in female mice and food entrainment in male mice. Additionally, ablating the insulin receptor in hypothalamic astrocytes alters cyclic energy homeostasis differently in male and female mice. Remarkably, the mutants exhibit altered dopamine metabolism, and the pharmacological modulation of dopaminergic signaling partially restores distinct circadian traits in both male and female mutant mice. Our findings highlight the role of astrocytic insulin-dopaminergic signaling in conveying time-of-feeding or lighting cues to the astrocyte clock, thus governing circadian behavior in a sex-specific manner.engAttribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/Circadian clockAstrocytesInsulin signalingDopamineEnergy homeostasis241111 Neurofisiología241104 Fisiología endocrinajournal article10.1038/s41467-023-44039-8open access