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The Journal of Neuroscience, September 3, 2003, 23(22):8070-8076
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BRIEF COMMUNICATION
The Biological Clock Nucleus: A Multiphasic Oscillator Network Regulated by Light
Jorge E. Quintero, *
Sandra J. Kuhlman, * and
Douglas G. McMahon
Department of Physiology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky
40536-0084
The circadian clock nucleus of the mammalian brain is composed of thousands
of oscillator neurons, each driven by the cell-autonomous action of a defined
set of circadian clock genes. A critical question is how these individual
oscillators are organized into an internal clock that times behavior and
physiology. We examined the neural organization of the suprachiasmatic nucleus
(SCN) through time-lapse imaging of a short-half-life green fluorescent
protein (GFP) reporter of the circadian clock gene Period 1
(Per1). Using brain slice preparations, Per1 promoter
rhythms were resolved at the level of the SCN, and in individual neurons
within the SCN, to determine the temporal patterns of rhythmicity resulting
from exposure of mice to light/dark cycle (LD) and constant darkness (DD)
conditions. Quantitative imaging and patch-clamp electrophysiology were used
to define the relationship of Per1 gene expression to
neurophysiological output on an individual neuron basis. We found that in both
LD and DD, the overall rhythm of the clock nucleus is composed of individual
cellular rhythms that peak in distinct phase groups at 3-4 hr intervals.
However, the phase relationships of Per1 oscillations to locomotor
activity and the phase relationships among individual neuronal oscillators
within the SCN are different in LD and DD. There was a positive, linear
correlation of Per1 transcription with neuronal spike frequency
output, thus Per1::GFP rhythms are representative of physiological
rhythmicity. Our results reveal multiple phase groupings of SCN oscillators
and suggest that light regulation of oscillator interactions within the SCN
underlies entrainment to the photoperiod.
Key words: suprachiasmatic nucleus; circadian rhythms; GFP; transgenic mice; confocal microscopy; electrophysiology; time-lapse imaging; gene expression; Period 1; entrainment
Received March 6, 2003;
revised June 11, 2003;
accepted June 30, 2003.
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