Featured
-
-
Article
| Open Access
Microglial REV-ERBα regulates inflammation and lipid droplet formation to drive tauopathy in male mice
The circadian clock protein REV-ERBα has been implicated in neuroinflammation but mechanisms are poorly understood. Here, the authors show that microglial REV-ERBα regulates inflammatory signaling and lipid droplet formation to exert sex-specific effects on tau pathology in mice.
- Jiyeon Lee
- , Julie M. Dimitry
- & Erik S. Musiek
-
Article
| Open Access
Circadian clock regulator Bmal1 gates axon regeneration via Tet3 epigenetics in mouse sensory neurons
Injured peripheral neurons activate pro-growth gene programs, yet the mechanisms remain unclear. Here, the authors show that disruption of circadian clock factor Bmal1 accelerates axon regeneration through augmented epigenetic responses after injury.
- Dalia Halawani
- , Yiqun Wang
- & Hongyan Zou
-
Article
| Open Access
A brainstem to circadian system circuit links Tau pathology to sundowning-related disturbances in an Alzheimer’s disease mouse model
Sundowning in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients is characterized by agitation and aggression during their afternoon-to-evening transition and a phase delay in circadian rhythms. Here, the authors show that AD model mice develop a phase delay and increased aggression around their active-to-rest transition with Tau pathology in brainstem neurons that target the circadian system.
- Andrew E. Warfield
- , Pooja Gupta
- & William D. Todd
-
Article
| Open Access
Hearing of malaria mosquitoes is modulated by a beta-adrenergic-like octopamine receptor which serves as insecticide target
Malaria mosquitoes use their ears to detect the flight tones of mating partners in the swarm as part of the courtship ritual. Here, the authors describe the auditory role of octopamine as a modulator of auditory plasticity in malaria mosquitoes and identify the main receptors involved in this process.
- Marcos Georgiades
- , Alexandros Alampounti
- & Marta Andrés
-
Article
| Open Access
Time-of-day defines NAD+ efficacy to treat diet-induced metabolic disease by synchronizing the hepatic clock in mice
The timing of NAD + supply determines its efficacy to treat metabolic disease. Here, the authors show that increasing NAD + at the early active phase maximizes weight loss and glucose regulation in mice. NAD + can displace the phase of the liver clock which can cause circadian misalignment.
- Quetzalcoatl Escalante-Covarrubias
- , Lucía Mendoza-Viveros
- & Lorena Aguilar-Arnal
-
Article
| Open Access
Dietary restriction and the transcription factor clock delay eye aging to extend lifespan in Drosophila Melanogaster
Circadian dysfunction is a potential driver of eye aging. Here the authors report that in conjunction with the core molecular clock transcription factor Clock, dietary restriction promotes rhythmic homeostatic mechanisms within photoreceptors to delay visual senescence and extend lifespan in Drosophila Melanogaster.
- Brian A. Hodge
- , Geoffrey T. Meyerhof
- & Pankaj Kapahi
-
Article
| Open Access
UBR4/POE facilitates secretory trafficking to maintain circadian clock synchrony
Although ubiquitin ligases are known to control clock protein degradation, their other roles in clock neurons are unclear. Here the authors report that UBR4 promotes export of neuropeptides from the Golgi for axonal trafficking, which is important for circadian clock synchrony in mice and flies.
- Sara Hegazi
- , Arthur H. Cheng
- & Hai-Ying Mary Cheng
-
Article
| Open Access
Circadian lipid and hepatic protein rhythms shift with a phase response curve different than melatonin
A key property of circadian rhythms is that they can be reset in response to environmental time cues; this response is described by a Phase Response Curve (PRC). Here the authors describe PRCs for resetting circadian rhythms in lipids and hepatic proteins in response to combined light and food exposure.
- Brianne A. Kent
- , Shadab A. Rahman
- & Steven W. Lockley
-
Article
| Open Access
Circadian neurons in the paraventricular nucleus entrain and sustain daily rhythms in glucocorticoids
It is unclear how circadian signals from the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) are decoded to generate daily rhythms in hormone release. Here, the authors show that daily corticosterone release depends on coordinated clock gene and neuronal activity rhythms in both SCN and paraventricular nucleus neurons.
- Jeff R. Jones
- , Sneha Chaturvedi
- & Erik D. Herzog
-
Article
| Open Access
The retinal ipRGC-preoptic circuit mediates the acute effect of light on sleep
The preoptic area (POA) is critical for sleep regulation but its role in acute, non-circadian, light effects on sleep are unclear. The authors show that intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells provide substantial input into the POA and through these modulate the amount of non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep.
- Ze Zhang
- , Corinne Beier
- & Samer Hattar
-
Article
| Open Access
Suprachiasmatic VIP neurons are required for normal circadian rhythmicity and comprised of molecularly distinct subpopulations
Cell groups in the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic clock contribute to the genesis of circadian rhythms. The authors identified two populations of vasoactive intestinal polypeptide-expressing neurons in the suprachiasmatic nucleus which regulate locomotor circadian rhythm in mice.
- William D. Todd
- , Anne Venner
- & Patrick M. Fuller
-
Article
| Open Access
The circadian phase of antenatal glucocorticoid treatment affects the risk of behavioral disorders
Antenatal glucocorticoid therapy is indicated for mothers at risk of preterm delivery. Here, the authors show that the circadian phase of antenatal glucocorticoid treatment affects the risk of behavioral disorders later in life in mice and in a retrospective observational study in human infants.
- Mariana Astiz
- , Isabel Heyde
- & Henrik Oster
-
Article
| Open Access
The VIP-VPAC2 neuropeptidergic axis is a cellular pacemaking hub of the suprachiasmatic nucleus circadian circuit
Circadian activity modulation in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is a network-level emergent property that requires neuropeptide VIP signaling, yet the precise cellular mechanisms are unknown. Patton et al. show that cells expressing VIP or its receptor VPAC2 together determine these emergent properties of the SCN.
- Andrew P. Patton
- , Mathew D. Edwards
- & Michael H. Hastings
-
Article
| Open Access
Genome-wide association analyses of chronotype in 697,828 individuals provides insights into circadian rhythms
GWAS have previously found 24 genomic loci associated with chronotype, an individual’s preference for early or late sleep timing. Here, the authors identify 327 additional loci in a sample of 697,828 individuals and further explore the relationships of chronotype with metabolic and psychiatric diseases.
- Samuel E. Jones
- , Jacqueline M. Lane
- & Michael N. Weedon
-
Article
| Open Access
The HisCl1 histamine receptor acts in photoreceptors to synchronize Drosophila behavioral rhythms with light-dark cycles
The role of the HisCl1 histamine receptor in the Drosophila visual system remains unclear. This study shows that HisCl1 is expressed in Rh6-photoreceptors where its function is sufficient for circadian entrainment by incorporating synaptic inputs from other photoreceptors.
- Faredin Alejevski
- , Alexandra Saint-Charles
- & François Rouyer
-
Article
| Open Access
Hub-organized parallel circuits of central circadian pacemaker neurons for visual photoentrainment in Drosophila
The central circadian clock in Drosophila is made up of ~ 150 anatomically distributed neurons; the circuits underlying photoentrainment is unclear. This study describes ex vivo patch-clamp recording of the eye-mediated light response of all known circadian clock neurons, and shows that they are organized in parallel circuits centered around a hub.
- Meng-Tong Li
- , Li-Hui Cao
- & Dong-Gen Luo
-
Article
| Open Access
Epigenetic regulation of the circadian gene Per1 contributes to age-related changes in hippocampal memory
Circadian rhythms are known to modulate memory, but it’s not known whether clock genes in the hippocampus are required for memory consolidation. Here, the authors show that epigenetic regulation of clock gene Period1 in the hippocampus regulates memory and contributes to age-related memory decline, independent of circadian rhythms.
- Janine L. Kwapis
- , Yasaman Alaghband
- & Marcelo A. Wood
-
Article
| Open Access
The choroid plexus is an important circadian clock component
The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) has been thought of as the master circadian clock, but peripheral circadian clocks do exist. Here, the authors show that the choroid plexus displays oscillations more robust than the SCN and that can be described as a Poincaré oscillator with negative twist.
- Jihwan Myung
- , Christoph Schmal
- & Toru Takumi
-
Article
| Open Access
BK channel inactivation gates daytime excitability in the circadian clock
BK potassium channels have been previously shown to mediate SCN circadian firing, although the precise mechanisms are unclear. Here, using knockout and rescue approaches, the authors find that the ß2 ‘ball-and-chain’ confers BK channel inactivation during the day, promoting SCN electrical upstate.
- Joshua P. Whitt
- , Jenna R. Montgomery
- & Andrea L. Meredith
-
Article
| Open Access
Gpr176 is a Gz-linked orphan G-protein-coupled receptor that sets the pace of circadian behaviour
The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is the central regulator of circadian rhythms. Here the authors identify mouse Gpr176 as a pace modulator of this circadian clock and characterize its mode of action as coupling to Gz rather than Gi subunits.
- Masao Doi
- , Iori Murai
- & Hitoshi Okamura
-
Article
| Open Access
Liver-derived ketone bodies are necessary for food anticipation
Food anticipation is thought to be initiated by the central clock in the brain. Here the authors show that the peripheral organs initiate this process by showing that liver-specific deletion of Per2 can inhibit food anticipation by interfering with ß-hydroxybutyrate production and its subsequent processing in the brain.
- Rohit Chavan
- , Céline Feillet
- & Urs Albrecht
-
Article
| Open Access
Neuronal influence on peripheral circadian oscillators in pupal Drosophila prothoracic glands
In the fruit flyDrosophila, changes in expression of circadian clock genes are believed to control eclosion. Morioka and colleagues show that transcriptional oscillations of the clock gene, period, in prothoracic gland cells are amplified by photic inputs from the central nervous system.
- Eri Morioka
- , Akira Matsumoto
- & Masayuki Ikeda
Disordered clock protein interactions and charge blocks turn an hourglass into a persistent circadian oscillator