Thrombomodulin is a clock-controlled gene in vascular endothelial cells

Cardiovascular diseases are closely related to circadian rhythm, which is under the control of an internal biological clock mechanism. Although a biological clock exists not only in the hypothalamus but also in each peripheral tissue, the biological relevance of the peripheral clock remains to be elucidated. In this study we searched for clock-controlled genes in vascular endothelial cells using microarray technology. The expression of a total of 229 genes was up-regulated by CLOCK/BMAL2. Among the genes that we identified, we examined the thrombomodulin (TM) gene further, because TM is an integral membrane glycoprotein that is expressed primarily in vascular endothelial cells and plays a major role in the regulation of intravascular coagulation. TM mRNA and protein expression showed a clear circadian oscillation in the mouse lung and heart. Reporter analyses, gel shift assays, and chromatin immunoprecipitation analyses using the TM promoter revealed that a heterodimer of CLOCK and BMAL2 binds directly to the E-box of the TM promoter, resulting in TM promoter transactivation. Indeed, the oscillation of TM gene expression was abolished in clock mutant mice, suggesting that TM expression is regulated by the clock gene in vivo. Finally, the phase of circadian oscillation of TM mRNA expression was altered by temporal feeding restriction, suggesting TM gene expression is regulated by the peripheral clock system. In conclusion, these data suggest that the peripheral clock in vascular endothelial cells regulates TM gene expression and that the oscillation of TM expression may contribute to the circadian variation of cardiovascular events.     

Circadian expression of clock genes in human peripheral leukocytes

In mammals, behavioral and physiological processes display 24-h rhythms that are regulated by a circadian system. In the present study, we investigated the possibility that the expression of clock genes in peripheral leukocytes can be used to assess the circadian clock system. We found that Per1 and Per2 exhibit circadian oscillations in mRNA expression in mouse peripheral leukocytes. Furthermore, the rhythms of Per1 and Per2 mRNA expression in peripheral leukocytes are severely blunted in homozygous Cry1/2 double-deficient mice that are known to have an abolished biological clock. We have examined the circadian expression of clock genes in human leukocytes and found that Per1 mRNA exhibits a robust circadian expression while Per2 and Bmal1 mRNA showed weak rhythm. These observations suggest that monitoring Per1 mRNA expression in human leukocytes may be useful for investigating the function of the circadian system in physiological and pathophysiological states.     

Presence of robust circadian clock oscillation under constitutive over-expression of mCry1 in rat-1 fibroblasts

In mammals, mCRY proteins are essential and are major negative elements in circadian feedback loops. In this study, robust circadian clock oscillation was present even under conditions with constitutive over-expression of mCry1 in rat-1 cells. Rat-1 cells were produced to stably express mPer2 promoter-driven luciferase reporter, in which mCry1 was overexpressed under a tetracycline-dependent gene expression (Tet-On) system. Using these cells, we show that circadian clock oscillations in rat-1 fibroblasts persist when the mCRY1 protein constitutively accumulates in the nuclei.     

Cyanobacterial circadian clockwork: roles of KaiA,KaiB and the kaiBC promoter in regulating KaiC

Using model strains in which we ectopically express the cyanobacterial clock protein KaiC in cells from which the clock genes kaiA, kaiB and/or kaiC are deleted, we found that some features of circadian clocks in eukaryotic organisms are conserved in the clocks of prokaryotic cyanobacteria, but others are not. One unexpected difference is that the circadian autoregulatory feedback loop in cyanobacteria does not require specific clock gene promoters as it does in eukaryotes, because a heterologous promoter can functionally replace the kaiBC promoter. On the other hand, a similarity between eukaryotic clock proteins and the cyanobacterial KaiC protein is that KaiC is phosphorylated in vivo. The other essential clock proteins KaiA and KaiB modulate the status of KaiC phosphorylation; KaiA inhibits KaiC dephosphorylation and KaiB antagonizes this action of KaiA. Based upon an analysis of clock mutants, we conclude that the circadian period in cyanobacteria is determined by the phosphorylation status of KaiC and also by the degradation rate of KaiC. These observations are integrated into a model proposing rhythmic changes in chromosomal status.     

Vascular circadian rhythms in a mouse vascular smooth muscle cell line (Movas-1)

The circadian system in mammals is a hierarchy of oscillators throughout the organism that are coordinated by the circadian clock in the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nucleus. Peripheral clocks act to integrate time-of-day information from neural or hormonal signals, regulating gene expression, and, subsequently, organ physiology. However, the mechanisms by which the central clock communicates with peripheral oscillators are not understood and are likely tissue specific. In this study, we establish a mouse vascular cell model suitable for investigations of these mechanisms at a molecular level. Using the immortalized vascular smooth muscle cell line Movas-1, we determined that these cells express the circadian clock machinery with robust rhythms in mRNA expression over a 36-h period after serum shock synchronization. Furthermore, norepinephrine and forskolin were able to synchronize circadian rhythms in bmal1. With synchronization, we observed cycling of specific genes, including the tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 1 and 3 (timp1, timp3), collagen 3a1 (col3a1), transgelin 1 (sm22alpha), and calponin 1 (cnn1). Diurnal expression of these genes was also found in vivo in mouse aortic tissue, using microarray and real-time RT-PCR analysis. Both of these revealed ultradian rhythms in genes similar to the cycling observed in Movas-1 in vitro. These findings highlight the cyclical nature of structurally important genes in the vasculature that is similar both in vivo and in vitro. This study establishes the Movas-1 cells as a novel cell model from which to further investigate the molecular mechanisms of clock regulation in the vasculature.     

The molecular mechanism regulating the autonomous circadian expression of Topoisomerase I in NIH3T3 cells

To identify whether Topoisomerase I (TopoI) has autonomous circadian rhythms regulated by clock genes, we tested mouse TopoI (mTopoI) promoter oscillation in NIH3T3 cells using a real-time monitoring assay and TopoI mRNA oscillations using real-time RT-PCR. Analysis of the mTopoI promoter region with Matlnspector software revealed two putative E-box (E1 and E2) and one DBP/E4BP4-binding element (D-box). Luciferase assays indicated that mTopoI gene expression was directly regulated by clock genes. The real-time monitoring assay showed that E-box and D-box response elements participate in the regulation of the circadian expression of mTopoI. Furthermore, a gel-shift assay showed that E2 is a direct target of the BMAL1/CLOCK heterodimer and DBP binds to the putative D-site. These results indicate that TopoI is expressed in an autonomous circadian rhythm in NIH3T3 cells.