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The Journal of Neuroscience, March 10, 2004, 24(10):2449-2457; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5323-03.2004

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Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
Targeted Microlesions Reveal Novel Organization of the Hamster Suprachiasmatic Nucleus

Lance J. Kriegsfeld,¹ Joseph LeSauter,² and Rae Silver^1,2,3

Departments of Psychology, ¹Columbia University and ²Barnard College, New York, New York 10027, and ³Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, New York 10032

The role of the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) in generating circadian rhythms in physiology and behavior is well established. Recent evidence based on clock gene expression indicates that the rodent SCN are composed of at least two functional subdivisions. In Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus), cells in a subregion of the caudal SCN marked by calbindin-D_28K (CalB) express light-induced, but not rhythmic, clock genes (Per1, Per2, and Per3). In the SCN region marked by vasopressinergic cells and fibers, clock gene expression is rhythmic. Importantly, lesions of the CalB subregion that spare a significant portion of the SCN abolish rhythms in locomotor behavior. One possibility is that the CalB subregion is required to maintain SCN function necessary to support all behavioral and physiological rhythms. Alternatively, this subregion may control circadian rhythms in locomotor behavior, whereas other circadian responses in physiology and behavior are sustained by different SCN compartments. The present study sought to distinguish between these possibilities by examining the role of the CalB subregion in a battery of rhythms within an individual animal. The results indicate that lesions of the CalB subregion of the SCN abolish circadian rhythms in behavior (locomotion, drinking, gnawing), physiology (body temperature, heart rate), and hormone secretion (melatonin, cortisol), even when other SCN compartments are spared. Together, these findings suggest a novel fundamental property of SCN organization, with a subset of cells being critical for the maintenance of SCN function manifest in circadian rhythms in physiology and behavior.

Key words: circadian; neuropeptide; pacemaker; suprachiasmatic; clock; diurnal

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Received Dec 2, 2003; revised January 14, 2004; accepted January 16, 2004.

This article has been cited by other articles:

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				H. O. de la Iglesia and W. J. Schwartz Minireview: Timely Ovulation: Circadian Regulation of the Female Hypothalamo-Pituitary-Gonadal Axis Endocrinology, March 1, 2006; 147(3): 1148 - 1153. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. Yan, N. C. Foley, J. M. Bobula, L. J. Kriegsfeld, and R. Silver Two Antiphase Oscillations Occur in Each Suprachiasmatic Nucleus of Behaviorally Split Hamsters J. Neurosci., September 28, 2005; 25(39): 9017 - 9026. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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				E. Filipski, V. M. King, M.-C. Etienne, X. Li, B. Claustrat, T. G. Granda, G. Milano, M. H. Hastings, and F. Levi Persistent twenty-four hour changes in liver and bone marrow despite suprachiasmatic nuclei ablation in mice Am J Physiol Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol, October 1, 2004; 287(4): R844 - R851. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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