Faculty Collaboration Database

Temporal-spatial characterization of chicken clock genes: circadian expression in retina, pineal gland, and peripheral tissues. J Neurochem 2003 May;85(4):851-60

Date

04/30/2003

Pubmed ID

12716417

DOI

10.1046/j.1471-4159.2003.01723.x

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-0037573540 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   66 Citations

Abstract

The molecular core of the vertebrate circadian clock is a set of clock genes, whose products interact to control circadian changes in physiology. These clock genes are expressed in all tissues known to possess an endogenous self-sustaining clock, and many are also found in peripheral tissues. In the present study, the expression patterns of two clock genes, cBmal1 and cMOP4, were examined in the chicken, a useful model for analysis of the avian circadian system. In two tissues which contain endogenous clocks--the pineal gland and retina--circadian fluctuations of both cBmal1 and cMOP4 mRNAs were observed to be synchronous; highest levels occurred at Zeitgeber time 12. Expression of these genes is also rhythmic in several peripheral tissues; however, the phases of these rhythms differ from those in the pineal gland and retina: in the liver the peaks of cMOP4 and cBmal1 mRNAs are delayed 4-8 h and in the heart they are advanced by 4 h, relative to those in the pineal gland and retina. These results provide the first temporal characterization of cBmal1 and cMOP4 mRNAs in avian tissues: their presence in avian peripheral tissues indicates they may influence temporal features of daily rhythms in biochemical, physiological, and behavioral functions at these sites.

Author List

Chong NW, Chaurasia SS, Haque R, Klein DC, Iuvone PM

Author

Shyam S. Chaurasia PhD Associate Professor in the Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

ARNTL Transcription Factors
Alternative Splicing
Animals
Base Sequence
Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Transcription Factors
Biological Clocks
Blotting, Northern
Chickens
Circadian Rhythm
Gene Expression Regulation
Male
Molecular Sequence Data
Organ Specificity
Photoperiod
Pineal Gland
RNA, Messenger
Retina
Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
Transcription Factors