Project description:Molecular analysis of circadian rhythm in mice. Liver tissue of wildtype, Clock mutant and Cry deficient C57BL/6 8- to 10-week-old male mice examined. Keywords = circadian rhythm Keywords: other
Project description:Molecular analysis of circadian rhythm in mice. Liver tissue of wildtype, Clock mutant and Cry deficient C57BL/6 8- to 10-week-old male mice examined.
Project description:The daily organisation of most mammalian cellular functions is attributed to circadian regulation of clock-controlled protein expression, driven by daily cycles of CRYPTOCHROME-dependent transcriptional feedback repression. To test this, we used quantitative mass spectrometry to compare wild type and CRY-deficient fibroblasts under constant conditions. In CRY-deficient cells, we found that temporal variation in protein, phosphopeptide, and K+ abundance was at least as great as wild type controls. Most strikingly. the extent of temporal variation within either genotype was much smaller than overall differences in proteome composition between WT and CRY-deficient cells. This proteome imbalance in CRY-deficient cells and tissues was associated with increased susceptibility to proteotoxic stress, which impairs circadian robustness, and may contribute to the wide-ranging phenotypes of CRY-deficient mice. Rather than generating largescale daily variation in proteome composition, we suggest it is plausible that the various transcriptional and post-translational functions of CRY proteins ultimately act to promote protein and osmotic homeostasis against daily perturbation.
Project description:The transcription-translation feedback loop, the core clock mechanism, is required for circadian rhythm. CRY protein, including CRY1 and CRY2, plays an important repressor role in the regulation of clock genes. However, other proteins, like PER1, PER2, NR1D1 and NR1D2, in the loop mask the transcriptional effects of CRY. This study provides data to find candidate genes specifically affected by CRY1 or CRY2 in mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEF) cells.
Project description:In mammals, the circadian clock consists of transcriptional and translational feedback loops through DNA cis-elements such as E-box and RRE. In this study, we established mutant mice deficient for rhythmic transcription of Bmal1 gene by deleting its upstream RRE elements. We observed apparently normal circadian rhythms in the mutant, but the circadian period and amplitude of the mutants were more susceptible to disturbance of CRY1 protein rhythm. Our findings demonstrate that the RRE-mediated feedback regulation of Bmal1 underpins the E-box-mediated rhythm in cooperation with CRY1-dependent posttranslational regulation of BMAL1 protein, thereby conferring the perturbation-resistant oscillation and chronologically organized output of the circadian clock.
Project description:The mammalian circadian clock is a molecular oscillator composed of a feedback loop that involves transcriptional activators CLOCK and BMAL1, and repressors Cryptochrome (CRY) and Period (PER). Here we show that a direct CLOCK-BMAL1 target gene, Gm129, is a novel regulator of the feedback loop. ChIP analysis revealed that the CLOCK:BMAL1:CRY1 complex strongly occupies the promoter region of Gm129. Both mRNA and protein levels of GM129 exhibit high amplitude circadian oscillations in mouse liver, and Gm129 gene encodes a nuclear-localized protein that directly interacts with BMAL1 and represses CLOCK:BMAL1 activity. In vitro and in vivo protein-DNA interaction results demonstrate that, like CRY1, GM129 functions as a repressor by binding to the CLOCK:BMAL1 complex on DNA. Although Gm129-/- or Cry1-/- Gm129-/- mice retain a robust circadian rhythm, the peaks of Nr1d1 and Dbp mRNAs in liver exhibit significant phase delay compared to control. Our results suggest that, in addition to CRYs and PERs, GM129 protein contributes to the transcriptional feedback loop by modulating CLOCK:BMAL1 activity as a transcriptional repressor. Examination of 3 transcriptional regulators in mouse liver
Project description:Increased susceptibility of circadian clock mutant mice to metabolic diseases has led to the understanding that a molecular circadian clock is necessary for metabolic homeostasis. Circadian clock produces a daily rhythm in activity-rest and an associated rhythm in feeding-fasting. Feeding-fasting driven programs and cell autonomous circadian oscillator act synergistically in the liver to orchestrate daily rhythm in metabolism. However, an imposed feeding-fasting rhythm, as in time-restricted feeding, can drive some rhythm in liver gene expression in clock mutant mice. We tested if TRF alone, in the absence of a circadian clock in the liver or in the whole animal can prevent obesity and metabolic syndrome. Mice lacking the clock component Bmal1 in the liver, Rev-erb alpha/beta in the liver or cry1-/-;cry2-/- (CDKO) mice rapidly gain weight and show genotype specific increased susceptibility to dyslipidemia, hypercholesterolemia and glucose intolerance under ad lib fed condition. However, when the mice were fed the same diet under time-restricted feeding regimen that imposed 10 h feeding during the night, they were protected from weight gain and other metabolic diseases. Transcriptome and metabolome analyses of the liver from there mutant mice showed TRF reduces de novo lipogenesis, increased beta-oxidation independent of a circadian clock. TRF also enhanced cellular defense to metabolic stress. These results suggest a major function of the circadian clock in metabolic homeostasis is to sustain a daily rhythm in feeding and fasting. The feeding-fasting cycle orchestrates a balance between nutrient stress and cellular response to maintain homeostasis.
Project description:OBJECTIVES: Abnormal chondrocyte gene expression promotes osteoarthritis (OA) pathogenesis. RNA-sequencing revealed that circadian rhythm pathway and expression of core clock protein cryptochrome 2 (Cry2) are dysregulated in human OA cartilage. Here we determined expression patterns and function Cry1 and Cry2. METHODS: Cry mRNA and protein expression was analyzed in normal and OA human and mouse cartilage. Mice with deletion of Cry1 or Cry2 were analyzed for severity of experimental OA and to determine genes and pathways that are regulated by CRY. RESULTS: In human OA cartilage, CRY2 but not CRY1 staining and mRNA expression was significantly decreased. Cry2 was also suppressed in mice with surgical or aging-related OA. Cry2 KO but not Cry1 KO mice with experimental OA showed significantly increased severity of histopathological changes in cartilage, subchondral bone and synovium. In OA chondrocytes, the levels of Cry1 and Cry2 and the amplitude of circadian fluctuation were significantly lower. RNA-seq on knee articular cartilage of wild-type and Cry2 KO mice identified 53 differentially expressed genes, including known CRY2 target circadian genes Nr1d1, Nr1d2, Dbp and Tef. Pathway analysis indicated that circadian rhythm and extracellular matrix remodeling were dysregulated in Cry2 KO mice. CONCLUSIONS: These results show an active role of the circadian clock in general, and of CRY2 in particular, in maintaining ECM homeostasis in cartilage. This cell autonomous network of circadian rhythm genes is disrupted in OA chondrocytes. Targeting CRY2 has potential to correct abnormal gene expression patterns and reduce the severity of OA.
Project description:The mammalian circadian clock is a molecular oscillator composed of a feedback loop that involves transcriptional activators CLOCK and BMAL1, and repressors Cryptochrome (CRY) and Period (PER). Here we show that a direct CLOCK-BMAL1 target gene, Gm129, is a novel regulator of the feedback loop. ChIP analysis revealed that the CLOCK:BMAL1:CRY1 complex strongly occupies the promoter region of Gm129. Both mRNA and protein levels of GM129 exhibit high amplitude circadian oscillations in mouse liver, and Gm129 gene encodes a nuclear-localized protein that directly interacts with BMAL1 and represses CLOCK:BMAL1 activity. In vitro and in vivo protein-DNA interaction results demonstrate that, like CRY1, GM129 functions as a repressor by binding to the CLOCK:BMAL1 complex on DNA. Although Gm129-/- or Cry1-/- Gm129-/- mice retain a robust circadian rhythm, the peaks of Nr1d1 and Dbp mRNAs in liver exhibit significant phase delay compared to control. Our results suggest that, in addition to CRYs and PERs, GM129 protein contributes to the transcriptional feedback loop by modulating CLOCK:BMAL1 activity as a transcriptional repressor.