Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Faculty of Medicine, Kindai University, Osakasayama, Japan.
J Biol Rhythms. 2021 Aug;36(4):410-418. doi: 10.1177/07487304211012905. Epub 2021 May 10.
Heavy water lengthens the periods of circadian rhythms in various plant and animal species. Many studies have reported that drinking heavy water lengthens the periods of circadian activity rhythms of rodents by slowing the clock mechanism in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), the mammalian circadian center. The SCN clock is stable and robust against disturbance, due to its intercellular network. It is unclear whether this robustness provides resistance to the effects of heavy water. Here, we report that heavy water lengthened the rhythm period of clock gene expression of the SCN and peripheral tissues in vitro using a PERIOD2::LUCIFERASE bioluminescence reporter. Our results show that the period-elongation rate of the SCN is similar to those of other tissues. Therefore, the intercellular network of the SCN is not resistant to the period-elongation effect of heavy water.
重水会延长各种植物和动物物种的昼夜节律周期。许多研究报告称，饮用重水会通过减缓视交叉上核（SCN）——哺乳动物的生物钟中心——中的时钟机制，延长啮齿动物昼夜活动节律的周期。由于 SCN 中的细胞间网络，其时钟稳定且不易受到干扰。目前尚不清楚这种稳健性是否能抵抗重水的影响。在这里，我们使用 PERIOD2::LUCIFERASE 生物发光报告基因，报告了重水在体外延长 SCN 和外周组织的时钟基因表达节律的周期。我们的结果表明，SCN 的周期延长率与其他组织相似。因此，SCN 的细胞间网络并不能抵抗重水的延长周期作用。
