Functional central rhythmicity and light entrainment, but not liver and muscle rhythmicity, are Clock independent

The circadian rhythmicity of hormone secretion, body temperature, and sleep/wakefulness results from an endogenous rhythm of neural activity generated by clock genes in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). One of these genes, Clock, has been considered essential for the generation of cellular rhythmicity centrally and in the periphery; however, melatonin-proficient Clock(Delta19) + MEL mutant mice retain melatonin rhythmicity, suggesting that their central rhythmicity is intact. Here we show that melatonin production in these mutants was rhythmic in constant darkness and could be entrained by brief single daily light pulses. Under normal light-dark conditions, per2 and prokineticin2 (PK2) mRNA expression was rhythmic in the SCN of Clock(Delta19) + MEL mice. Expression of Bmal1 and npas2 was not altered, whereas per1 expression was arrhythmic. In contrast to the SCN, per1 and per2 expression, as well as Bmal1 expression in liver and skeletal muscle, together with plasma corticosterone, was arrhythmic in Clock(Delta19) + MEL mutant mice in normal light-dark conditions. npas2 mRNA was also arrhythmic in liver but rhythmic in muscle. The Clock(Delta19) mutation does not abolish central rhythmicity and light entrainment, suggesting that a functional Clock homolog, possibly npas2, exists in the SCN. Nevertheless, the SCN of Clock(Delta19) + MEL mutant mice cannot maintain liver and muscle rhythmicity through rhythmic outputs, including melatonin secretion, in the absence of functional Clock expression in the tissues. Therefore, liver and muscle, but not SCN, have an absolute requirement for CLOCK, with as yet unknown Clock-independent factors able to generate the latter.     

Effects of fasting and re-feeding on the expression of Dec1, Per1, and other clock-related genes

To elucidate the food-entrainable oscillatory mechanism of peripheral clock systems, we examined the effect of fasting on circadian expression of clock genes including Dec1 and Dec2 in mice. Withholding of food for 2 days had these effects: the expression level of Dec1 mRNA decreased in all tissues examined, although Per1 mRNA level markedly increased; Per2 expression was reduced in the liver and heart only 42-46 h after the start of fasting; and expression profiles of Dec2 and Bmal1 were altered only in the heart and in the liver, respectively, whereas Rev-erbalpha mRNA levels did not change significantly. Re-feeding after 36-h starvation erased, at least in part, the effect of fasting on Dec1, Dec2, Per1, Per2, and Bmal1 within several hours, and restriction feeding shifted the phase of expression profiles of all examined clock genes including Dec1 and Dec2. These findings indicate that short-term fasting and re-feeding modulate the circadian rhythms of clock genes to different extents in peripheral tissues, and suggest that the expression of Dec1, Per1, and some other clock genes was closely linked with the metabolic activity of these tissues.     

鳜肝脏和心脏生物钟基因表达节律分析

在12h光照、12h黑暗交替(Light-Dark; LD)光制下,研究分析了褪黑素和皮质醇水平在鳜血清中的昼夜变化规律,以及13个生物钟基因(Arntl1、Clock、Cry1a、Cry3、Cry-dash、Npas2、Npas4、Nr1d1、Nr1d2、Per1、Per3、Rora和Tim)在鳜(Siniperca chuatsi)肝脏和心脏中的昼夜表达规律。试验在一昼夜内的ZT0(06:00)、ZT3(09:00),ZT6(12:00),ZT9(15:00),ZT12(18:00),ZT15(21:00),ZT18(24:00),ZT21(03:00,2nd d),ZT24(06:00,2nd d) (Zone time,ZT) 9个时间点随机抽取3尾鳜采集其血清、肝脏和心脏。经SPSS 单因素方差分析和Matlab余弦分析,结果显示: 鳜血清中褪黑素和皮质醇含量均呈现出昼夜节律性振荡,褪黑素含量白天显著降低(P0.05),夜间显著上升,皮质醇含量白天缓慢降低,夜间ZT15(21:00)-ZT18(24:00)显著升高,随后开始缓慢降低; 两种激素最低相位都为ZT15(21:00)。在13个生物钟基因中,Cry-dash、Npas4、Nr1d1、Per1和Tim 5个基因在鳜肝脏内具有明显的昼夜节律性,其中Npas4、Nr1d1、Per1、Tim的表达规律相似,皆呈现出光照阶段表达降低,黑暗阶段表达升高的趋势; 但Cry-dash则表现出光照阶段先升高后降低,黑暗阶段先降低后升高的规律。在鳜心脏中,Arntl1、Clock、Cry1a、Npas2、Nr1d1、Nr1d2、Per3、Rora和Tim 9个基因都表现出明显的昼夜节律,表达趋势分为两种: Arntl1、Clock、Nr1d2的表达量在光照阶段降低,黑暗阶段升高; 而Cry1a、Npas2、Nr1d1、Per3、Rora和Tim的表达量在ZT0(06:00)-ZT15(21:00)持续低水平,ZT15(21:00)-ZT18(24:00)表达量显著上升,ZT18(24:00)-ZT21(03:00)表达量降低。研究结果表明: 生物钟基因在鳜肝脏和心脏中所表达的昼夜节律不同。