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U Schibler

Publications and source records attributed to U Schibler.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Glucocorticoid hormones inhibit food-induced phase-shifting of peripheral circadian oscillators.

The circadian timing system in mammals is composed of a master pacemaker in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus and slave clocks in most peripheral cell types. The phase of peripheral clocks can be completely uncoupled from the SCN pacemaker by restricted feeding. Thus, feeding time, while not affecting the phase of the SCN pacemaker, is a dominant Zeitgeber for peripheral circadian oscillators. Here we show that the phase resetting in peripheral clocks of nocturnal mice is slow when feeding time is changed from night to day and rapid when switched back from day to night. Unexpectedly, the inertia in daytime feeding-induced phase resetting of circadian gene expression in liver and kidney is not an intrinsic property of peripheral oscillators, but is caused by glucocorticoid signaling. Thus, glucocorticoid hormones inhibit the uncoupling of peripheral and central circadian oscillators by altered feeding time.

Adrenalectomy↗
PubMed2001

Analysis of circadian liver gene expression by ADDER, a highly sensitive method for the display of differentially expressed mRNAs.

We describe a novel and highly sensitive method for the differential display of mRNAs, called ADDER (Amplification of Double-stranded cDNA End Restriction fragments). The technique involves the construction and PCR amplification of double-stranded cDNA restriction fragments complementary to 3'-terminal mRNA sequences. Aliquots of these cDNA fragments are then amplified by touchdown PCR with 192 pairs of display primers (16 upstream primers and 12 downstream primers) that differ in their ultimate and penultimate nucleotides and the PCR products are compared by size-fractionation on urea-polyacrylamide sequencing gels. By using the ADDER technology for the comparison of liver RNAs harvested at different times around the clock we detected nearly 300 cDNA fragments complementary to mRNAs with circadian accumulation profiles and sequenced 51 of them. The majority of these cDNAs correspond to genes which were not previously known to be rhythmically expressed. A large fraction of the identified genes encoded factors involved in the processing and detoxification of nutrients. This suggests that a primary purpose of circadian transcription in the liver is the anticipation of food processing and detoxification. Several genes involved in human disease were also identified, including the one encoding presenilin II, a protein implicated in the development of Alzheimer's DISEASE:

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Circadian rhythms: mop up the clock!

All circadian clock genes discovered in Drosophila have mammalian counterparts with extensive sequence homology. Similarities and differences have been identified between insect and mammalian oscillators. Recent studies have shed new light on two mammalian clock components: Mop3 and Per2.

ARNTL Transcription Factors↗
PubMed2001

The Isolation of differentially expressed mRNA sequences by selective amplification via biotin and restriction-mediated enrichment.

Molecular analysis of development frequently implies the isolation and characterization of genes with specific spatial and temporal expression patterns. Several methods have been developed to identify such DNA sequences. The most comprehensive technique involves the genomewide probing of DNA sequence microarrays with mRNA sequences. However, at present this technology is limited to the few organisms for which the entire genome has been sequenced. Here, we describe a subtractive hybridization technique, called selective amplification via biotin and restriction-mediated enrichment (SABRE), which allows the selective amplification of cDNA fragments representing differentially expressed mRNA species. The method involves the competitive hybridization of an excess of driver cDNA fragments (D) to a trace of tester cDNA fragments (T), and the subsequent purification of tester homohybrids (in which both strands are contributed by the tester cDNA). After competitive hybridization, cDNA fragments that are more abundant in the tester than in the driver are enriched in the tester homohybrids. However, as the fraction of tester homohybrids is very small [T(2)/(D + T)(2)], their purification requires highly efficient procedures. In SABRE, the isolation of tester homohybrids is afforded by a combination of three successive steps: removal of biotinylated terminal sequences from most of the heterohybrids by S1 nuclease digestion, capture of biotinylated hybrids with streptavidin-coated paramagnetic beads, and specific release of homohybrids from the beads by restriction nuclease digestion. If several rounds of SABRE selection are performed in series, even relatively rare differentially expressed mRNA sequences may result in the production of predominant cDNA fragments in the final tester homohybrid population.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Circadian regulation of gene expression in animals.

Circadian timekeepers reside in most body cells of Drosophila and mammals. The discovery of new clock genes suggests that circadian oscillations are generated by interconnected feedback loops employing transcriptional and post-translational mechanisms. In mammals, a master pacemaker localized in the suprachiasmatic nucleus synchronizes peripheral clocks via humoral cues. However, restricted feeding can uncouple peripheral oscillators from the suprachiasmatic pacemaker.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Restricted feeding uncouples circadian oscillators in peripheral tissues from the central pacemaker in the suprachiasmatic nucleus.

In mammals, circadian oscillators exist not only in the suprachiasmatic nucleus, which harbors the central pacemaker, but also in most peripheral tissues. It is believed that the SCN clock entrains the phase of peripheral clocks via chemical cues, such as rhythmically secreted hormones. Here we show that temporal feeding restriction under light-dark or dark-dark conditions can change the phase of circadian gene expression in peripheral cell types by up to 12 h while leaving the phase of cyclic gene expression in the SCN unaffected. Hence, changes in metabolism can lead to an uncoupling of peripheral oscillators from the central pacemaker. Sudden large changes in feeding time, similar to abrupt changes in the photoperiod, reset the phase of rhythmic gene expression gradually and are thus likely to act through a clock-dependent mechanism. Food-induced phase resetting proceeds faster in liver than in kidney, heart, or pancreas, but after 1 wk of daytime feeding, the phases of circadian gene expression are similar in all examined peripheral tissues.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Multiple signaling pathways elicit circadian gene expression in cultured Rat-1 fibroblasts.

In mammals, all overt circadian rhythms are thought to be coordinated by a central pacemaker residing in the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) [1]. The phase of this pacemaker is entrained by photic cues via the retino-hypothalamic tract. Circadian clocks probably rely on a feedback loop in the expression of certain clock genes (reviewed in [2,3]). Surprisingly, however, such molecular oscillators are not only operative in pacemaker cells, such as SCN neurons, but also in many peripheral tissues and even in cell lines kept in vitro [4-7]. For example, a serum shock can induce circadian gene expression in cultured Rat-1 fibroblasts [5]. This treatment also results in a rapid surge of expression of the clock genes Per1 and Per2, similar to that observed in the SCNs of animals receiving a light pulse [8-10]. Serum induction of Per1 and Per2 transcription does not require ongoing protein synthesis [5] and must therefore be accomplished by direct signaling pathways. Here, we show that cAMP, protein kinase C, glucocorticoid hormones and Ca2+ can all trigger a transient surge of Per1 transcription and elicit rhythmic gene expression in Rat-1 cells. We thus suspect that the SCN pacemaker may exploit multiple chemical cues to synchronize peripheral oscillators in vivo.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Resetting of circadian time in peripheral tissues by glucocorticoid signaling.

In mammals, circadian oscillators reside not only in the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the brain, which harbors the central pacemaker, but also in most peripheral tissues. Here, we show that the glucocorticoid hormone analog dexamethasone induces circadian gene expression in cultured rat-1 fibroblasts and transiently changes the phase of circadian gene expression in liver, kidney, and heart. However, dexamethasone does not affect cyclic gene expression in neurons of the suprachiasmatic nucleus. This enabled us to establish an apparent phase-shift response curve specifically for peripheral clocks in intact animals. In contrast to the central clock, circadian oscillators in peripheral tissues appear to remain responsive to phase resetting throughout the day.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

CLOCK, an essential pacemaker component, controls expression of the circadian transcription factor DBP.

DBP, the founding member of the PAR leucine zipper transcription factor family, is expressed according to a robust daily rhythm in the suprachiasmatic nucleus and several peripheral tissues. Previous studies with mice deleted for the Dbp gene have established that DBP participates in the regulation of several clock outputs, including locomotor activity, sleep distribution, and liver gene expression. Here we present evidence that circadian Dbp transcription requires the basic helix-loop-helix-PAS protein CLOCK, an essential component of the negative-feedback circuitry generating circadian oscillations in mammals and fruit flies. Genetic and biochemical experiments suggest that CLOCK regulates Dbp expression by binding to E-box motifs within putative enhancer regions located in the first and second introns. Similar E-box motifs have been found previously in the promoter sequence of the murine clock gene mPeriod1. Hence, the same molecular mechanisms generating circadian oscillations in the expression of clock genes may directly control the rhythmic transcription of clock output regulators such as Dbp.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

The transcription factor DBP affects circadian sleep consolidation and rhythmic EEG activity.

Albumin D-binding protein (DBP) is a PAR leucine zipper transcription factor that is expressed according to a robust circadian rhythm in the suprachiasmatic nuclei, harboring the circadian master clock, and in most peripheral tissues. Mice lacking DBP display a shorter circadian period in locomotor activity and are less active. Thus, although DBP is not essential for circadian rhythm generation, it does modulate important clock outputs. We studied the role of DBP in the circadian and homeostatic aspects of sleep regulation by comparing DBP deficient mice (dbp-/-) with their isogenic controls (dbp+/+) under light-dark (LD) and constant-dark (DD) baseline conditions, as well as after sleep loss. Whereas total sleep duration was similar in both genotypes, the amplitude of the circadian modulation of sleep time, as well as the consolidation of sleep episodes, was reduced in dbp-/- under both LD and DD conditions. Quantitative EEG analysis demonstrated a marked reduction in the amplitude of the sleep-wake-dependent changes in slow-wave sleep delta power and an increase in hippocampal theta peak frequency in dbp-/- mice. The sleep deprivation-induced compensatory rebound of EEG delta power was similar in both genotypes. In contrast, the rebound in paradoxical sleep was significant in dbp+/+ mice only. It is concluded that the transcriptional regulatory protein DBP modulates circadian and homeostatic aspects of sleep regulation.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

The ins and outs of circadian timekeeping.

Recent research in Drosophila and in mammals has generated fascinating new models for how circadian clocks in these organisms are reset by light and how these clocks, in turn, direct circadian outputs. Though light perception by the central clock is ocular in mammals, it probably proceeds via a mechanism separate from traditional visual transduction. In Drosophila, one mechanism is non-ocular and is in fact present in many different tissues. In both organisms, the cryptochrome family of photoreceptor-like molecules plays a role in the circadian clock, though their function is incompletely understood. Moreover, although a master clock resides in the brain, a functional clock appears to reside in most cells of the body. In these tissues, at least some output genes are controlled at the transcriptional level directly by clock proteins; others appear to be regulated by cascades of circadian transcription factors. Taken together, these observations are reshaping thinking about inputs and outputs of metazoan circadian clocks.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Molecular approaches towards the isolation of sleep-related genes.

Behavioural genetics is one of the most enticing fields in modern biology. Owing to straightforward and semiautomated techniques that can be used to measure locomotor activity, circadian rhythmicity is perhaps the best studied behaviour in animals. Thus, during the past decade, five essential circadian clock genes have been isolated in Drosophila, and homologous counterparts for all of these genes have also been found in mammals. As the sleep-wake cycle is under the control of the circadian clock, these circadian master genes are expected to influence sleeping behaviour. However, different vigilance states are regulated by additional mechanisms that also have a genetic basis. In this article we discuss molecular approaches that may prove useful in the search for sleep-related genes.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Circadian expression of the steroid 15 alpha-hydroxylase (Cyp2a4) and coumarin 7-hydroxylase (Cyp2a5) genes in mouse liver is regulated by the PAR leucine zipper transcription factor DBP.

To study the molecular mechanisms of circadian gene expression, we have sought to identify genes whose expression in mouse liver is regulated by the transcription factor DBP (albumin D-site-binding protein). This PAR basic leucine zipper protein accumulates according to a robust circadian rhythm in nuclei of hepatocytes and other cell types. Here, we report that the Cyp2a4 gene, encoding the cytochrome P450 steroid 15alpha-hydroxylase, is a novel circadian expression gene. This enzyme catalyzes one of the hydroxylation reactions leading to further metabolism of the sex hormones testosterone and estradiol in the liver. Accumulation of CYP2A4 mRNA in mouse liver displays circadian kinetics indistinguishable from those of the highly related CYP2A5 gene. Proteins encoded by both the Cyp2a4 and Cyp2a5 genes also display daily variation in accumulation, though this is more dramatic for CYP2A4 than for CYP2A5. Biochemical evidence, including in vitro DNase I footprinting on the Cyp2a4 and Cyp2a5 promoters and cotransfection experiments with the human hepatoma cell line HepG2, suggests that the Cyp2a4 and Cyp2a5 genes are indeed regulated by DBP. These conclusions are corroborated by genetic studies, in which the circadian amplitude of CYP2A4 and CYP2A5 mRNAs and protein expression in the liver was significantly impaired in a mutant mouse strain homozygous for a dbp null allele. These experiments strongly suggest that DBP is a major factor controlling circadian expression of the Cyp2a4 and Cyp2a5 genes in the mouse liver.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

An RNA polymerase II complex containing all essential initiation factors binds to the activation domain of PAR leucine zipper transcription factor thyroid embryonic factor.

Transcription initiation of protein-encoding genes involves the assembly of RNA polymerase II and a number of general transcription factors at the promoter. A mammalian RNA polymerase II complex containing all of the components required for promoter-specific transcription initiation can be isolated by immunopurification with a monoclonal antibody directed against the cyclin-dependent kinase CDK7, a subunit of the general transcription factor TFIIH. In vitro transcription by this immunopurified RNA polymerase II complex is effectively stimulated by thyroid embryonic factor (TEF), a basic leucine zipper transcription factor. Thus, the RNA polymerase II complex must also contain components required for activated transcription that interact with the transactivation domain of TEF. This conjecture was verified by affinity selection experiments in which the TEF transcription activation domain was used as a bait. Indeed, an RNA polymerase II complex containing all of the accessory proteins required for transcription initiation can be enriched by its affinity to recombinant proteins containing the TEF transactivation domain. These results are compatible with a mechanism by which TEF can recruit an RNA polymerase II holoenzyme to the promoter in a single step.

Animals↗