Stereotaxic targeting of the Dorsal Vagal Complex

The Dorsal Vagal Complex (DVC) is a critical brainstem relay for visceral sensory information, sympathetic regulation, and gut-brain communication. Current weight-reducing pharmacotherapies are reported to target this brainstem region to elicit their main satiety actions. Despite its importance, no published step-by-step protocol exists for stereotaxic targeting of this region in rodents. Here, we present a detailed protocol for bilateral administration of substances into the DVC of mice using the atlanto-occipital membrane approach. We describe the surgical access, obex-referenced coordinate system, injection parameters, and we provide a histological validation. This protocol is useful for the study of DVC cells and efferent and afferent neuronal DVC circuits using common neuroscience tools such as tracings, optogenetics or chemogenetics. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Martinez de Morentin et al.(Martinez De Morentin et al., 2024)