{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"institution":[{"name":"bioRxiv"}],"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,29]],"date-time":"2026-07-29T13:36:55Z","timestamp":1785332215911,"version":"3.55.0"},"posted":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,14]]},"group-title":"Neuroscience","reference-count":61,"publisher":"openRxiv","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,14]],"date-time":"2024-09-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1726272000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.biorxiv.org\/about\/FAQ#license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,14]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>\n                  Breast cancer patients often exhibit disrupted circadian rhythms in circulating glucocorticoids (GCs), such as cortisol. This disruption correlates with reduced quality of life and higher cancer mortality\n                  <jats:sup>1\u20133<\/jats:sup>\n                  . The exact cause of this phenomenon \u2014 whether due to treatments, stress, age, co-morbidities, lifestyle factors, or the cancer itself remains unclear. Here, we demonstrate that primary breast cancer alone blunts host GC rhythms by disinhibiting neurons in the hypothalamus, and that circadian phase-specific neuromodulation of these neurons can attenuate tumor growth by enhancing anti-tumor immunity. We find that mice with mammary tumors exhibit blunted GC rhythms before tumors are palpable, alongside increased activity in paraventricular hypothalamic neurons expressing corticotropin-releasing hormone (i.e., PVN\n                  <jats:sup>CRH<\/jats:sup>\n                  neurons). Tumor-bearing mice have fewer inhibitory synapses contacting PVN\n                  <jats:sup>CRH<\/jats:sup>\n                  neurons and reduced miniature inhibitory post-synaptic current (mIPSC) frequency, leading to net excitation. Tumor-bearing mice experience impaired negative feedback on GC production, but adrenal and pituitary gland functions are largely unaffected, indicating that alterations in PVN\n                  <jats:sup>CRH<\/jats:sup>\n                  neuronal activity are likely a primary cause of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysfunction in breast cancer. Using chemogenetics (hM3Dq) to stimulate PVN\n                  <jats:sup>CRH<\/jats:sup>\n                  neurons at different circadian phases, we show that stimulation just before the light-to-dark transition restores normal GC rhythms and reduces tumor progression. These mice have significantly more effector T cells (CD8+) within the tumor than non-stimulated controls, and the anti-tumor effect of PVN\n                  <jats:sup>CRH<\/jats:sup>\n                  neuronal stimulation is absent in mice lacking CD8+ T cells. Our findings demonstrate that breast cancer distally regulates neurons in the hypothalamus that control output of the HPA axis and provide evidence that therapeutic targeting of these neurons could mitigate tumor progression.\n                <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1101\/2024.09.13.612923","type":"posted-content","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,16]],"date-time":"2024-09-16T01:36:18Z","timestamp":1726450578000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["A brain-body feedback loop driving HPA-axis dysfunction in breast cancer"],"prefix":"10.64898","author":[{"given":"Adrian","family":"Gomez","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yue","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chao","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Leah","family":"Boyd","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4141-3157","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tse-Luen","family":"Wee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Joseph","family":"Gewolb","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Corina","family":"Amor","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lucas","family":"Cheadle","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jeremy C.","family":"Borniger","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"54368","reference":[{"key":"2024091717501756000_2024.09.13.612923v1.1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/jnci\/92.12.994"},{"key":"2024091717501756000_2024.09.13.612923v1.2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.psyneuen.2003.11.003"},{"key":"2024091717501756000_2024.09.13.612923v1.3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.psyneuen.2004.06.003"},{"key":"2024091717501756000_2024.09.13.612923v1.4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1158\/1055-9965.EPI-15-0535"},{"key":"2024091717501756000_2024.09.13.612923v1.5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s00520-005-0861-0"},{"key":"2024091717501756000_2024.09.13.612923v1.6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1046\/j.1365-2354.2001.00263.x"},{"key":"2024091717501756000_2024.09.13.612923v1.7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jpainsymman.2006.09.022"},{"key":"2024091717501756000_2024.09.13.612923v1.8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"98","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bbi.2015.10.005","article-title":"Cancer-related fatigue shows a stable association with diurnal cortisol dysregulation in breast cancer patients","volume":"52","year":"2016","journal-title":"Brain. 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