 |
The Journal of Neuroscience, January 28, 2004, 24(4):781-790; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4488-03.2004
 Previous Article | Next Article 
Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
A Circadian Rhythm in the Expression of PERIOD2 Protein Reveals a Novel SCN-Controlled Oscillator in the Oval Nucleus of the Bed Nucleus of the Stria Terminalis
Shimon Amir,
Elaine Waddington Lamont,
Barry Robinson, and
Jane Stewart
Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montréal, Québec H4B 1R6, Canada
Circadian rhythms in mammals are regulated not only globally by the master clock in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), but also locally by widely distributed populations of clock cells in the brain and periphery that control tissue-specific rhythmic outputs. Here we show that the oval nucleus of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST-OV) exhibits a robust circadian rhythm in expression of the Period2 (PER2) clock protein. PER2 expression is rhythmic in the BNST-OV in rats housed under a light/dark cycle or in constant darkness, in blind rats, and in mice, and is in perfect synchrony with the PER2 rhythm of the SCN. Constant light or bilateral SCN lesions abolish the rhythm of PER2 in the BNST-OV. Large abrupt shifts in the light schedule transiently uncouple the BNST-OV rhythm from that of the SCN. Re-entrainment of the PER2 rhythm is faster in the SCN than in the BNST-OV, and it is faster after a delay than an advance shift. Bilateral adrenalectomy blunts the PER2 rhythm in the BNST-OV. Thus, the BNST-OV contains circadian clock cells that normally oscillate in synchrony with the SCN, but these cells appear to require both input from the SCN and circulating glucocorticoids to maintain their circadian oscillation. Taken together with what is known about the functional organization of the connections of the BNST-OV with systems of the brain involved in stress and motivational processes, these findings place BNST-OV oscillators in a position to influence specific physiological and behavioral rhythms downstream from the SCN clock.
Key words: bed nucleus of the stria terminalis; oval nucleus; suprachiasmatic nucleus; PER2; circadian rhythm; rat
Received Oct 2, 2003;
revised November 6, 2003;
accepted November 17, 2003.
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
|
|
 
S. J. Legan, K. M. Donoghue, K. M. Franklin, and M. J. Duncan
Phenobarbital blockade of the preovulatory luteinizing hormone surge: association with phase-advanced circadian clock and altered suprachiasmatic nucleus Period1 gene expression
Am J Physiol Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol,
May 1, 2009;
296(5):
R1620 - R1630.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
M. Girotti, M. S. Weinberg, and R. L. Spencer
Diurnal expression of functional and clock-related genes throughout the rat HPA axis: system-wide shifts in response to a restricted feeding schedule
Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab,
April 1, 2009;
296(4):
E888 - E897.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. E. Gibbs, S. Beesley, J. Plumb, D. Singh, S. Farrow, D. W. Ray, and A. S. I. Loudon
Circadian Timing in the Lung; A Specific Role for Bronchiolar Epithelial Cells
Endocrinology,
January 1, 2009;
150(1):
268 - 276.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Z. S. Malek, D. Sage, P. Pevet, and S. Raison
Daily Rhythm of Tryptophan Hydroxylase-2 Messenger Ribonucleic Acid within Raphe Neurons Is Induced by Corticoid Daily Surge and Modulated by Enhanced Locomotor Activity
Endocrinology,
November 1, 2007;
148(11):
5165 - 5172.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
S. E. Hammack, I. Mania, and D. G. Rainnie
Differential Expression of Intrinsic Membrane Currents in Defined Cell Types of the Anterolateral Bed Nucleus of the Stria Terminalis
J Neurophysiol,
August 1, 2007;
98(2):
638 - 656.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
M. Mieda, S. C. Williams, J. A. Richardson, K. Tanaka, and M. Yanagisawa
The dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus as a putative food-entrainable circadian pacemaker
PNAS,
August 8, 2006;
103(32):
12150 - 12155.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
G. J. Landry, M. M. Simon, I. C. Webb, and R. E. Mistlberger
Persistence of a behavioral food-anticipatory circadian rhythm following dorsomedial hypothalamic ablation in rats
Am J Physiol Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol,
June 1, 2006;
290(6):
R1527 - R1534.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. S. Perrin, L. A. Segall, V. L. Harbour, B. Woodside, and S. Amir
The expression of the clock protein PER2 in the limbic forebrain is modulated by the estrous cycle
PNAS,
April 4, 2006;
103(14):
5591 - 5596.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
T. Yoshikawa, S. Yamazaki, and M. Menaker
Effects of Preparation Time on Phase of Cultured Tissues Reveal Complexity of Circadian Organization
J Biol Rhythms,
December 1, 2005;
20(6):
500 - 512.
[Abstract]
[PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
U. Abraham, J. L. Prior, D. Granados-Fuentes, D. R. Piwnica-Worms, and E. D. Herzog
Independent Circadian Oscillations of Period1 in Specific Brain Areas In Vivo and In Vitro
J. Neurosci.,
September 21, 2005;
25(38):
8620 - 8626.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
E. W. Lamont, B. Robinson, J. Stewart, and S. Amir
The central and basolateral nuclei of the amygdala exhibit opposite diurnal rhythms of expression of the clock protein Period2
PNAS,
March 15, 2005;
102(11):
4180 - 4184.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
|
|
|
