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Parallel Measurement of Circadian Clock Gene Expression and Hormone Secretion in Human Primary Cell Cultures
Published on: November 11, 2016
Circadian oscillators in the epithalamus
C Guilding1, A T L Hughes, H D Piggins
1Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
Neuroscience
|June 16, 2010
Summary
The mouse habenula has an intrinsic molecular clock, primarily in its medial lateral part. This circadian oscillator functions independently in single cells, revealing new roles for the epithalamus in behavior.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Chronobiology
- Molecular Biology
Background:
- The habenula complex, an epithalamic structure, influences various behaviors and is potentially part of the brain's circadian system.
- Circadian rhythms are regulated by core clock genes and proteins, like PER2, but their expression in the habenula remains uninvestigated.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the presence and localization of an intrinsic molecular clock within the mouse habenula.
- To determine if circadian rhythms in the habenula are cell-autonomous.
Main Methods:
- Utilized videomicroscopy imaging and photon-counting of a PER2::luciferase (LUC) fusion protein.
- Performed multiunit electrophysiological recordings in vitro.
- Assessed circadian oscillations in the presence of tetrodotoxin.
Main Results:
- Demonstrated that a circadian oscillator is localized predominantly in the medial portion of the lateral habenula.
- Observed rhythmic PER2::LUC bioluminescence in single habenula cells, persisting even when neuronal activity was blocked.
- Identified circadian PER2 oscillations in ependymal cells lining the dorsal third ventricle.
Conclusions:
- Established that the mouse habenula contains intrinsic circadian oscillators in both neurons and non-neuronal cells.
- Indicated that these cellular circadian rhythms play a role in regulating habenula-controlled processes and behaviors.
- Highlighted the epithalamus as a novel component of the brain's circadian system.
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