Role of DBP in the circadian oscillatory mechanism

Transcript levels of DBP, a member of the PAR leucine zipper transcription factor family, exhibit a robust rhythm in suprachiasmatic nuclei, the mammalian circadian center. Here we report that DBP is able to activate the promoter of a putative clock oscillating gene, mPer1, by directly binding to the mPer1 promoter. The mPer1 promoter is cooperatively activated by DBP and CLOCK-BMAL1. On the other hand, dbp transcription is activated by CLOCK-BMAL1 through E-boxes and inhibited by the mPER and mCRY proteins, as is the case for mPer1. Thus, a clock-controlled dbp gene may play an important role in central clock oscillation.