RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Vagal Regulation of Respiratory Clocks in Mice
JF The Journal of Neuroscience
JO J. Neurosci.
FD Society for Neuroscience
SP 4359
OP 4365
DO 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4131-06.2007
VO 27
IS 16
A1 Hideki Bando
A1 Takeshi Nishio
A1 Gijsbertus T. J. van der Horst
A1 Satoru Masubuchi
A1 Yasuo Hisa
A1 Hitoshi Okamura
YR 2007
UL http://www.jneurosci.org/content/27/16/4359.abstract
AB The present study addresses the role of the circadian system in day–night changes of respiratory functions in the mouse. In all airway tissues investigated (i.e., larynx, trachea, bronchus, and lung), we observed clear rhythmic expression of the Per1, Per2, Bmal1, and Clock core oscillator genes (the latter two genes oscillating in antiphase with the Per genes), as well as the clock-regulated Dbp gene. Oscillations were abolished in arrhythmic Cry1−/−Cry2−/− knock-out mice and after lesioning of the master clock in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) in wild-type animals. These findings indicate that respiratory system cells contain a functional peripheral oscillator that is controlled by the SCN. Furthermore, we found that the muscarinic acetylcholine receptor genes Chm2, Chm3, and Chm4 are expressed in a circadian manner, and that mucin secretion (rather than synthesis) by the airway submucosal glands is under circadian control. Signals from the SCN are mainly transmitted by the vagal nerve because unilateral vagotomy completely abolished rhythms in mucin and PER2 protein levels in the (operated) ipsilateral side of the submucosal glands, but not in the (intact) contralateral side. Thus, peripheral clock mediated circadian expression of muscarinic acetylcholine receptor proteins, and parasympathetic signaling between SCN and respiratory tissues are essential gears in conferring circadian “time” information to airway glands.