Li Jia-Da, Hu Wang-Ping, Boehmer Lisa, Cheng Michelle Y, Lee Alex G, Jilek Alexander, Siegel Jerome M, Zhou Qun-Yong
Department of Pharmacology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California 92697, USA.
J Neurosci. 2006 Nov 8;26(45):11615-23. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3679-06.2006.
Circadian clocks drive daily rhythms in virtually all organisms. In mammals, the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is recognized as the master clock that synchronizes central and peripheral oscillators to evoke circadian rhythms of diverse physiology and behavior. How the timing information is transmitted from the SCN clock to generate overt circadian rhythms is essentially unknown. Prokineticin 2 (PK2), a clock-controlled gene that encodes a secreted protein, has been indicated as a candidate SCN clock output signal that regulates circadian locomotor rhythm. Here we report the generation and analysis of PK2-null mice. The reduction of locomotor rhythms in PK2-null mice was apparent in both hybrid and inbred genetic backgrounds. PK2-null mice also displayed significantly reduced rhythmicity for a variety of other physiological and behavioral parameters, including sleep-wake cycle, body temperature, circulating glucocorticoid and glucose levels, as well as the expression of peripheral clock genes. In addition, PK2-null mice showed accelerated acquisition of food anticipatory activity during a daytime food restriction. We conclude that PK2, acting as a SCN output factor, is important for the maintenance of robust circadian rhythms.
昼夜节律时钟驱动着几乎所有生物体的日常节律。在哺乳动物中,视交叉上核(SCN)被认为是主时钟,它使中枢和外周振荡器同步,以引发各种生理和行为的昼夜节律。目前基本上还不清楚时间信息是如何从SCN时钟传递以产生明显的昼夜节律的。促动力蛋白2(PK2)是一种由时钟控制的基因,编码一种分泌蛋白,已被指出是调节昼夜运动节律的候选SCN时钟输出信号。在此,我们报告PK2基因敲除小鼠的产生和分析。在杂交和近交遗传背景下,PK2基因敲除小鼠的运动节律均明显降低。PK2基因敲除小鼠在各种其他生理和行为参数方面的节律性也显著降低,包括睡眠-觉醒周期、体温、循环糖皮质激素和葡萄糖水平,以及外周时钟基因的表达。此外,在白天食物限制期间,PK2基因敲除小鼠表现出更快获得食物预期活动。我们得出结论,PK2作为SCN输出因子,对维持稳健的昼夜节律很重要。