QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

HOME  |   SEARCH  |   ARCHIVE  |   SUBSCRIBE  |   CONTACT  |   HELP

This Article Full Text (PDF) Submit an eLetter Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Rivkees, S. A. Articles by Reppert, S. M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Rivkees, S. A. Articles by Reppert, S. M.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Neuroscience, Vol 8, 4269-4276, Copyright © 1988 by Society for Neuroscience

ARTICLE

Anatomic and functional development of the suprachiasmatic nuclei in the gray short-tailed opossum

SA Rivkees, CA Fox, CD Jacobson and SM Reppert
Laboratory of Developmental Chronobiology, Children's Service, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston 02114.

The anatomic and functional development of the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) was studied in the gray short-tailed opossum, Monodelphis domestica. To provide a background for developmental studies, daily patterns of wheel-running behavior and SCN metabolic activity were studied in adult animals. Adult opossums manifested robust circadian rhythms in locomotor activity that were entrained by the daily light- dark cycle. The temporal course of SCN metabolic activity, studied by the 14C-labeled deoxyglucose autoradiographic technique, showed that the adult SCN were metabolically active throughout subjective day and relatively inactive during subjective night. SCN neurogenesis, determined using 3H-thymidine autoradiography, was active at postnatal day 3, the earliest age studied, and continued until postnatal day 7. It was not until postnatal day 16 that the SCN appeared as distinct nuclei by light microscopy. Study of the ontogeny of the daily rhythm in SCN metabolic activity showed that the nuclei were metabolically active during both day and night at postnatal day 16. On day 20, a clear day-night rhythm in SCN metabolic activity was first observed; the rhythm was even more pronounced on day 27. These results indicate that the gray short-tailed opossum has a functioning circadian timing system and that the anatomic and functional development of the SCN in this species occurs during the postnatal period.

Home  |   Search  |   Archive  |   Subscribe  |   Contact  |   Help