The VIP-VPAC2 neuropeptidergic axis is a cellular pacemaking hub of the suprachiasmatic nucleus circadian circuit.
Nat Commun
; 11(1): 3394, 2020 07 07.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32636383
ABSTRACT
The hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) are the principal mammalian circadian timekeeper, co-ordinating organism-wide daily and seasonal rhythms. To achieve this, cell-autonomous circadian timing by the ~20,000 SCN cells is welded into a tight circuit-wide ensemble oscillation. This creates essential, network-level emergent properties of precise, high-amplitude oscillation with tightly defined ensemble period and phase. Although synchronised, regional cell groups exhibit differentially phased activity, creating stereotypical spatiotemporal circadian waves of cellular activation across the circuit. The cellular circuit pacemaking components that generate these critical emergent properties are unknown. Using intersectional genetics and real-time imaging, we show that SCN cells expressing vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) or its cognate receptor, VPAC2, are neurochemically and electrophysiologically distinct, but together they control de novo rhythmicity, setting ensemble period and phase with circuit-level spatiotemporal complexity. The VIP/VPAC2 cellular axis is therefore a neurochemically and topologically specific pacemaker hub that determines the emergent properties of the SCN timekeeper.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Suprachiasmatic Nucleus
/
Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide
/
Circadian Rhythm
/
Receptors, Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide, Type II
Limits:
Animals
Language:
En
Journal:
Nat Commun
Journal subject:
BIOLOGIA
/
CIENCIA
Year:
2020
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
United kingdom