Time-of-day dependent effects of contractile activity on the phase of the skeletal muscle clock.

KEY POINTS: Disruptions in circadian rhythms across an organism are associated with negative health outcomes, such as cardiometabolic and neurodegenerative diseases. Exercise has been proposed as a time cue for the circadian clock in rodents and humans. In this study, we assessed the effect of a single bout of endurance exercise on the skeletal muscle clock in vivo and a bout of muscle contractions in vitro. Timing of exercise or contractions influences the directional response of the muscle clock phase in vivo and in vitro. Our findings demonstrate that muscle contractions, as a component of exercise, can directly modulate the expression of muscle clock components in a time-of-day dependent manner. ABSTRACT: Exercise has been proposed to be a zeitgeber for the muscle circadian clock mechanism. However, this is not well defined and it is unknown if exercise timing induces directional shifts of the muscle clock. Our purpose herein was to assess the effect of one bout of treadmill exercise on skeletal muscle clock phase changes. We subjected PERIOD2::LUCIFERASE mice (n = 30F) to one 60 min treadmill exercise bout at three times of day. Exercise at ZT5, 5 h after lights on, induced a phase advance (100.2 ± 25.8 min; P = 0.0002), whereas exercise at ZT11, 1 h before lights off, induced a phase delay (62.1 ± 21.1 min; P = 0.0003). Exercise at ZT17, middle of the dark phase, did not alter the muscle clock phase. Exercise induces diverse systemic changes so we developed an in vitro model system to examine the effects of contractile activity on muscle clock phase. Contractions applied at peak or trough Bmal1 expression induced significant phase delays (applied at peak: 27.2 ± 10.2 min; P = 0.0017; applied at trough: 64.6 ± 6.5 min, P < 0.0001). Contractions applied during the transition from peak to trough Bmal1 expression induced a phase advance (49.8 ± 23.1 min; P = 0.0051). Lastly, contractions at different times of day resulted in differential changes of core clock gene expression, demonstrating an exercise and clock interaction, providing insight into potential mechanisms of exercise-induced phase shifts. These data demonstrate that muscle contractions, as part of exercise, are sufficient to shift the muscle circadian clock phase, likely through changes in core clock gene expression. Additionally, our findings that exercise induces directional muscle clock phase changes confirms that exercise is a bona fide environmental time cue for skeletal muscle.

The LIM domain protein nTRIP6 modulates the dynamics of myogenic differentiation.

The process of myogenesis which operates during skeletal muscle regeneration involves the activation of muscle stem cells, the so-called satellite cells. These then give rise to proliferating progenitors, the myoblasts which subsequently exit the cell cycle and differentiate into committed precursors, the myocytes. Ultimately, the fusion of myocytes leads to myofiber formation. Here we reveal a role for the transcriptional co-regulator nTRIP6, the nuclear isoform of the LIM-domain protein TRIP6, in the temporal control of myogenesis. In an in vitro model of myogenesis, the expression of nTRIP6 is transiently up-regulated at the transition between proliferation and differentiation, whereas that of the cytosolic isoform TRIP6 is not altered. Selectively blocking nTRIP6 function results in accelerated early differentiation followed by deregulated late differentiation and fusion. Thus, the transient increase in nTRIP6 expression appears to prevent premature differentiation. Accordingly, knocking out the Trip6 gene in satellite cells leads to deregulated skeletal muscle regeneration dynamics in the mouse. Thus, dynamic changes in nTRIP6 expression contributes to the temporal control of myogenesis.

MYOD1 functions as a clock amplifier as well as a critical co-factor for downstream circadian gene expression in muscle.

In the present study we show that the master myogenic regulatory factor, MYOD1, is a positive modulator of molecular clock amplitude and functions with the core clock factors for expression of clock-controlled genes in skeletal muscle. We demonstrate that MYOD1 directly regulates the expression and circadian amplitude of the positive core clock factor Bmal1. We identify a non-canonical E-box element in Bmal1 and demonstrate that is required for full MYOD1-responsiveness. Bimolecular fluorescence complementation assays demonstrate that MYOD1 colocalizes with both BMAL1 and CLOCK throughout myonuclei. We demonstrate that MYOD1 and BMAL1:CLOCK work in a synergistic fashion through a tandem E-box to regulate the expression and amplitude of the muscle specific clock-controlled gene, Titin-cap (Tcap). In conclusion, these findings reveal mechanistic roles for the muscle specific transcription factor MYOD1 in the regulation of molecular clock amplitude as well as synergistic regulation of clock-controlled genes in skeletal muscle.

The LIM domain protein nTRIP6 acts as a co-repressor for the transcription factor MEF2C in myoblasts.

The transcription factor Myocyte enhancer factor 2C (MEF2C) plays a key role in the late differentiation of skeletal muscle progenitor cells, the so-called myoblasts. During myoblast differentiation, both MEF2C expression and transcriptional activity are regulated. We have reported that nTRIP6, the nuclear isoform of the focal adhesion LIM domain protein TRIP6, acts as an adaptor transcriptional co-activator for several transcription factors. It interacts with the promoter-bound transcription factors and consequently mediates the recruitment of other co-activators. Based on a described interaction between MEF2C and TRIP6 in a yeast-two-hybrid screen, we hypothesised a co-regulatory function of nTRIP6 for MEF2C. In proliferating myoblasts, nTRIP6 interacted with MEF2C and was recruited together with MEF2C to the MEF2-binding regions of the MEF2C target genes Myom2, Mb, Tnni2 and Des. Silencing nTRIP6 or preventing its interaction with MEF2C increased MEF2C transcriptional activity and increased the expression of these MEF2C target genes. Thus, nTRIP6 acts as a co-repressor for MEF2C. Mechanistically, nTRIP6 mediated the recruitment of the class IIa histone deacetylase HDAC5 to the MEF2C-bound promoters. In conclusion, our results unravel a transcriptional co-repressor function for nTRIP6. This adaptor co-regulator can thus exert either co-activator or co-repressor functions, depending on the transcription factor it interacts with.

The LIM domain protein nTRIP6 recruits the mediator complex to AP-1-regulated promoters.

Several LIM domain proteins regulate transcription. They are thought to act through their LIM protein-protein interaction domains as adaptors for the recruitment of transcriptional co-regulators. An intriguing example is nTRIP6, the nuclear isoform of the focal adhesion protein TRIP6. nTRIP6 interacts with AP-1 and enhances its transcriptional activity. nTRIP6 is also essential for the transrepression of AP-1 by the glucocorticoid receptor (GR), by mediating GR tethering to promoter-bound AP-1. Here we report on the molecular mechanism by which nTRIP6 exerts these effects. Both the LIM domains and the pre-LIM region of nTRIP6 are necessary for its co-activator function for AP-1. Discrete domains within the pre-LIM region mediate the dimerization of nTRIP6 at the promoter, which enables the recruitment of the Mediator complex subunits THRAP3 and Med1. This recruitment is blocked by GR, through a competition between GR and THRAP3 for the interaction with the LIM domains of nTRIP6. Thus, nTRIP6 both positively and negatively regulates transcription by orchestrating the recruitment of the Mediator complex to AP-1-regulated promoters.