Ono Daisuke, Honma Ken-Ichi, Honma Sato
Department of Neuroscience II, Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan.
Department of Neural Regulation, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan.
Front Neurosci. 2021 Apr 15;15:650154. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2021.650154. eCollection 2021.
In mammals, the central circadian clock is located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus. Individual SCN cells exhibit intrinsic oscillations, and their circadian period and robustness are different cell by cell in the absence of cellular coupling, indicating that cellular coupling is important for coherent circadian rhythms in the SCN. Several neuropeptides such as arginine vasopressin (AVP) and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) are expressed in the SCN, where these neuropeptides function as synchronizers and are important for entrainment to environmental light and for determining the circadian period. These neuropeptides are also related to developmental changes of the circadian system of the SCN. Transcription factors are required for the formation of neuropeptide-related neuronal networks. Although VIP is critical for synchrony of circadian rhythms in the neonatal SCN, it is not required for synchrony in the embryonic SCN. During postnatal development, the clock genes and are involved in the maturation of cellular networks, and AVP is involved in SCN networks. This mini-review focuses on the functional roles of neuropeptides in the SCN based on recent findings in the literature.
在哺乳动物中，中枢生物钟位于下丘脑的视交叉上核（SCN）。单个SCN细胞表现出内在振荡，并且在没有细胞耦合的情况下，它们的昼夜节律周期和稳健性在细胞之间存在差异，这表明细胞耦合对于SCN中连贯的昼夜节律很重要。几种神经肽，如精氨酸加压素（AVP）和血管活性肠肽（VIP）在SCN中表达，这些神经肽在其中作为同步器起作用，对于与环境光同步以及确定昼夜节律周期很重要。这些神经肽也与SCN昼夜节律系统的发育变化有关。转录因子是形成神经肽相关神经网络所必需的。虽然VIP对新生SCN中昼夜节律的同步至关重要，但在胚胎SCN中同步则不需要它。在出生后发育过程中，时钟基因参与细胞网络的成熟，而AVP参与SCN网络。本综述基于文献中的最新发现，重点关注神经肽在SCN中的功能作用。
