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Updated: Jan 30, 2026

In Vivo Monitoring of Circadian Clock Gene Expression in the Mouse Suprachiasmatic Nucleus Using Fluorescence Reporters
Published on: July 4, 2018
Vasoactive intestinal peptide controls the suprachiasmatic circadian clock network via ERK1/2 and DUSP4 signalling
Ryan Hamnett1,2, Priya Crosby1, Johanna E Chesham1
1MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Ave, Cambridge, CB2 0QH, UK.
Abstract:
The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) co-ordinates circadian behaviour and physiology in mammals. Its cell-autonomous circadian oscillations pivot around a well characterised transcriptional/translational feedback loop (TTFL), whilst the SCN circuit as a whole is synchronised to solar time by its retinorecipient cells that express and release vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP). The cell-autonomous and circuit-level mechanisms whereby VIP synchronises the SCN are poorly understood. We show that SCN slices in organotypic culture demonstrate rapid and sustained circuit-level circadian responses to VIP that are mediated at a cell-autonomous level. This is accompanied by changes across a broad transcriptional network and by significant VIP-directed plasticity in the internal phasing of the cell-autonomous TTFL. Signalling via ERK1/2 and tuning by its negative regulator DUSP4 are critical elements of the VIP-directed circadian re-programming. In summary, we provide detailed mechanistic insight into VIP signal transduction in the SCN at the level of genes, cells and neural circuit.
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10:38Monitoring Cell-autonomous Circadian Clock Rhythms of Gene Expression Using Luciferase Bioluminescence Reporters
Published on: September 27, 2012
10:06Slice Preparation, Organotypic Tissue Culturing and Luciferase Recording of Clock Gene Activity in the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus
Published on: February 15, 2011
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