The dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus is not necessary for food-anticipatory circadian rhythms of behavior, temperature or clock gene expression in mice.

Circadian rhythms in mammals are regulated by a light-entrainable circadian pacemaker in the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nucleus and food-entrainable oscillators located elsewhere in the brain and body. The dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus (DMH) has been proposed to be the site of oscillators driving food-anticipatory circadian rhythms, but this is controversial. To further evaluate this hypothesis, we measured clock gene, temperature and activity rhythms in intact and DMH-ablated mice. A single 4-h midday feeding after an overnight fast induced mPer1 and mPer2 mRNA expression in the DMH, arcuate nucleus, nucleus of the solitary tract and area postrema, and reset daily rhythms of mPer1, mPer2 and mBMAL1 in the DMH, arcuate and neocortex. These rhythms persisted during 2 days of food deprivation after 12 days of scheduled daytime feeding. Acute induction of DMH mPer1 and mPer2 was N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor-dependent, whereas rhythmic expression after 6 days of restricted feeding was not. Thermal DMH lesions did not affect acute induction or rhythmic expression of clock genes in other brain regions in response to scheduled daytime feeding. DMH lesions attenuated mean daily activity levels and nocturnality but did not affect food-anticipatory rhythms of activity and body temperature in either light-dark or constant darkness. These results confirm that the DMH and other brain regions express circadian clock gene rhythms sensitive to daytime feeding schedules, but do not support the hypothesis that DMH oscillations drive food-anticipatory behavioral or temperature rhythms.

Extended action of MKC-242, a selective 5-HT(1A) receptor agonist, on light-induced Per gene expression in the suprachiasmatic nucleus in mice.

We reported previously that (S)-5-[3-[(1,4-benzodioxan-2-ylmethyl)amino]propoxy]-1,3-benzodioxole hydrochloride (MKC-242) (3 mg kg(-1), i.p.), a selective 5-HT(1A) receptor agonist, accelerated the re-entrainment of hamster wheel-running rhythms to a new 8 hr delayed or advanced light-dark cycle, and also potentiated the phase advance of the wheel-running rhythm produced by light pulses. The molecular mechanism underlying MKC-242-induced potentiation of this phase shift, however, has not yet been elucidated. We examined the effects of MKC-242 on light-induced mPer1 and mPer2 mRNA expression in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of mice. MKC-242 (5 mg kg(-1), i.p.) potentiated light-induced mPer1 and mPer2 expression in the SCN of mice housed in constant darkness for 2 days, when mRNA levels were observed 3 hr after light-exposure. More potentiating action of MKC-242 on mPer2 expression in the SCN was observed in mice housed in constant darkness for 9-10 days. This facilitatory action of MKC-242 on mPer1 expression was antagonized by WAY100635, a selective 5-HT(1A) receptor blocker, indicating that MKC-242 activated 5-HT(1A) receptors. Other drugs such as 8-hydroxy-dipropylaminotetralin (10 mg kg(-1), i.p.), paroxetine (10 mg kg(-1), i.p.), buspirone (10 mg kg(-1), i.p.), and diazepam (10 mg kg(-1), i.p.) did not display a potentiating action on light-induced mPer1 and mPer2 expression in the SCN. In the behavioral experiments, we found that MKC-242 (5 mg kg(-1), i.p.) potentiated light-induced phase delays of free-running rhythm in mice. The present results suggest that prolonged increase of mPer1 or mPer2 expression in the SCN by MKC-242 may be involved in the potentiation of photic entrainment by MKC-242 in mice.

Gastrin-releasing peptide mediates photic entrainable signals to dorsal subsets of suprachiasmatic nucleus via induction of Period gene in mice.

The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), locus of the central circadian clock, consists of two neuronal populations (i.e., a light-recipient ventral SCN subpopulation directly entrained by light and a dorsal SCN subpopulation with an autonomous oscillatory function possessing an indirect or weak light response). However, the mechanism underlying the transmission of photic signals from the ventral to dorsal SCN remains unclear. Because gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP), expressed mainly in the ventral SCN, exerts phase-shifting actions, loss of the GRP receptor intuitively implies a reduction of photic information from the ventral to dorsal SCN. Therefore, using GRP receptor-deficient mice, we examined the involvement of GRP and the GRP receptor in light- and GRP-induced entrainment by the assessment of behavioral rhythm and induction of mousePeriod (mPer) gene in the SCN, which is believed to be a critical for photic entrainment. Administration of GRP during nighttime dose dependently produced a phase delay of behavior in wild-type but not GRP receptor-deficient mice. This phase-shift by GRP was closely associated with induction of mPer1 and mPer2 mRNA as well as c-Fos protein in the dorsal portion of the SCN, where the GRP receptor was also expressed abundantly. Both the light-induced phase shift in behavior and the induction of mPer mRNA and c-Fos protein in the dorsal SCN were attenuated in GRP receptor-deficient mice. Our present studies suggest that GRP neurons in the retinorecipient ventral area of the SCN convey the photic entrainable signals from the ventral SCN to the dorsal SCN via induction of the mPer gene.