scholarly journals Temperature compensation and temperature sensation in the circadian clock

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (46) ◽  
pp. E6284-E6292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip B. Kidd ◽  
Michael W. Young ◽  
Eric D. Siggia

All known circadian clocks have an endogenous period that is remarkably insensitive to temperature, a property known as temperature compensation, while at the same time being readily entrained by a diurnal temperature oscillation. Although temperature compensation and entrainment are defining features of circadian clocks, their mechanisms remain poorly understood. Most models presume that multiple steps in the circadian cycle are temperature-dependent, thus facilitating temperature entrainment, but then insist that the effect of changes around the cycle sums to zero to enforce temperature compensation. An alternative theory proposes that the circadian oscillator evolved from an adaptive temperature sensor: a gene circuit that responds only to temperature changes. This theory implies that temperature changes should linearly rescale the amplitudes of clock component oscillations but leave phase relationships and shapes unchanged. We show using timeless luciferase reporter measurements and Western blots against TIMELESS protein that this prediction is satisfied by the Drosophila circadian clock. We also review evidence for pathways that couple temperature to the circadian clock, and show previously unidentified evidence for coupling between the Drosophila clock and the heat-shock pathway.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zihao Zhu ◽  
Marcel Quint ◽  
Muhammad Usman Anwer

SummaryPredictable changes in light and temperature during a diurnal cycle are major entrainment cues that enable the circadian clock to generate internal biological rhythms that are synchronized with the external environment. With the average global temperature predicted to keep increasing, the intricate light-temperature coordination that is necessary for clock functionality is expected to be seriously affected. Hence, understanding how temperature signals are perceived by the circadian clock has become an important issue, especially in light of climate change scenarios. In Arabidopsis, the clock component EARLY FLOWERING 3 (ELF3) not only serves as an essential light Zeitnehmer, but also functions as a thermosensor participating in thermomorphogenesis. However, the role of ELF3 in temperature entrainment of the circadian clock is not fully understood. Here, we report that ELF3 is essential for delivering temperature input to the clock. We demonstrate that in the absence of ELF3, the oscillator was unable to properly respond to temperature changes, resulting in an impaired gating of thermoresponses. Consequently, clock-controlled physiological processes such as rhythmic growth and cotyledon movement were disturbed. Together, our results reveal that ELF3 is an essential Zeitnehmer for temperature sensing of the oscillator, and thereby for coordinating the rhythmic control of thermoresponsive physiological outputs.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Emery ◽  
Radhika Joshi ◽  
Yao Cai ◽  
Yomgliang Xia ◽  
Joanna Chiu

Temperature compensation is a critical feature of circadian rhythms, but how it is achieved remains elusive. Here, we uncovered the important role played by the Drosophila PERIOD (PER) phosphodegron in temperature compensation. Using CRISPR-Cas9, we introduced a series of mutations that altered three Serines (S44, 45 and 47) belonging to the PER phosphodegron, the functional homolog of mammalian PER2’s S487 phosphodegron, which impacts temperature compensation. While all three Serine to Alanine substitutions lengthened period at all temperatures tested, temperature compensation was differentially affected. S44A and S45A substitutions caused decreased temperature compensation, while S47A resulted in overcompensation. These results thus reveal unexpected functional heterogeneity of phosphodegron residues in thermal compensation. Furthermore, mutations impairing phosphorylation of the per^s phosphocluster decreased thermal compensation, consistent with its inhibitory role on S47 phosphorylation. Interestingly,the S47A substitution caused increased accumulation of hyper-phosphorylated PER at warmer temperatures. This finding was corroborated by cell culture assays in which S47A caused excessive temperature compensation of phosphorylation-dependent PER degradation. Thus, we show a novel role of the PER phosphodegron in temperature compensation through temperature-dependent modulation of the abundance of hyper-phosphorylated PER. Our work also reveals interesting mechanistic convergences and differences between mammalian and Drosophila temperature compensation of the circadian clock.


2001 ◽  
Vol 21 (8) ◽  
pp. 2619-2628 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael A. Collett ◽  
Jay C. Dunlap ◽  
Jennifer J. Loros

ABSTRACT To understand the role of white collar-2 in theNeurospora circadian clock, we examined alleles ofwc-2 thought to encode partially functional proteins. We found that wc-2 allele ER24 contained a conservative mutation in the zinc finger. This mutation results in reduced levels of circadian rhythm-critical clock gene products, frq mRNA and FRQ protein, and in a lengthened period of the circadian clock. In addition, this mutation altered a second canonical property of the clock, temperature compensation: as temperature increased, period length decreased substantially. This temperature compensation defect correlated with a temperature-dependent increase in overall FRQ protein levels, with the relative increase being greater in wc-2(ER24) than in wild type, while overall frq mRNA levels were largely unaltered by temperature. We suggest that this temperature-dependent increase in FRQ levels partially rescues the lowered levels of FRQ resulting from the wc-2 (ER24) defect, yielding a shorter period at higher temperatures. Thus, normal activity of the essential clock component WC-2, a positive regulator offrq, is critical for establishing period length and temperature compensation in this circadian system.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Wei Chen ◽  
Nozomu Takahashi ◽  
Yoshito Hirata ◽  
Dmitri A. Nusinow ◽  
Steve A. Kay ◽  
...  

AbstractThe circadian clock is synchronized by environmental cues, mostly by light and temperature. Elucidating how the plant circadian clock responds to temperature oscillations is crucial to understand plant responsiveness to the environment. Here we found a prevalent temperature-dependent function of the Arabidopsis clock component ELF4 (EARLY FLOWERING 4) in the root clock. Micrografting assays and mathematical analyses show that ELF4 moves from shoots to regulate rhythms in roots. ELF4 movement does not convey photoperiodic information but trafficking is essential to control the period of the root clock in a temperature-dependent manner. At low temperatures, ELF4 mobility is favored and results in a slow-paced root clock while high temperatures decrease movement, leading to a fast clock. Hence, the mobile ELF4 delivers temperature information and establishes a shoot-to-root dialogue that sets the pace of the clock in roots.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marijke Versteven ◽  
Karla-Marlen Ernst ◽  
Ralf Stanewsky

AbstractCircadian clocks temporally organize physiology and behavior of organisms exposed to the daily changes of light and temperature on our planet, thereby contributing to fitness and health. Circadian clocks and the biological rhythms they control are characterized by three properties. (1) The rhythms are self-sustained in constant conditions with a period of ~ 24 hr, (2), they can be synchronized to the environmental cycles of light and temperature, and (3), they are temperature compensated, meaning they run with the same speed at different temperatures within the physiological range of the organism. Apart from the central clocks located in or near the brain, which regulate the daily activity rhythms of animals, the so-called peripheral clocks are dispersed throughout the body of insects and vertebrates. Based on the three defining properties, it has been difficult to determine if these peripheral clocks are true circadian clocks. We used a set of clock gene – luciferase reporter genes to address this question in Drosophila circadian clocks. We show that self-sustained fly peripheral oscillators over compensate temperature changes, i.e., they slow down with increasing temperature. This over-compensation is not observed in central clock neurons in the fly brain, both in intact flies and in cultured brains, suggesting that neural network properties contribute to temperature compensation. However, an important neuropeptide for synchronizing the circadian neuronal network, the Pigment Dispersing Factor (PDF), is not required for self-sustained and temperature-compensated oscillations in subsets of the central clock neurons. Our findings reveal a fundamental difference between central and peripheral clocks, which likely also applies for vertebrate clocks.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (11) ◽  
pp. 5590
Author(s):  
Clément Veys ◽  
Abderrahim Benmoussa ◽  
Romain Contentin ◽  
Amandine Duchemin ◽  
Emilie Brotin ◽  
...  

Chondrosarcomas are malignant bone tumors. Their abundant cartilage-like extracellular matrix and their hypoxic microenvironment contribute to their resistance to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and no effective therapy is currently available. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) may be an interesting alternative in the development of therapeutic options. Here, for the first time in chondrosarcoma cells, we carried out high-throughput functional screening using impedancemetry, and identified five miRNAs with potential antiproliferative or chemosensitive effects on SW1353 chondrosarcoma cells. The cytotoxic effects of miR-342-5p and miR-491-5p were confirmed on three chondrosarcoma cell lines, using functional validation under normoxia and hypoxia. Both miRNAs induced apoptosis and miR-342-5p also induced autophagy. Western blots and luciferase reporter assays identified for the first time Bcl-2 as a direct target of miR-342-5p, and also Bcl-xL as a direct target of both miR-342-5p and miR-491-5p in chondrosarcoma cells. MiR-491-5p also inhibited EGFR expression. Finally, only miR-342-5p induced cell death on a relevant 3D chondrosarcoma organoid model under hypoxia that mimics the in vivo microenvironment. Altogether, our results revealed the tumor suppressive activity of miR-342-5p, and to a lesser extent of miR-491-5p, on chondrosarcoma lines. Through this study, we also confirmed the potential of Bcl-2 family members as therapeutic targets in chondrosarcomas.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. eabe2086
Author(s):  
Zheng Eelderink-Chen ◽  
Jasper Bosman ◽  
Francesca Sartor ◽  
Antony N. Dodd ◽  
Ákos T. Kovács ◽  
...  

Circadian clocks create a 24-hour temporal structure, which allows organisms to occupy a niche formed by time rather than space. They are pervasive throughout nature, yet they remain unexpectedly unexplored and uncharacterized in nonphotosynthetic bacteria. Here, we identify in Bacillus subtilis circadian rhythms sharing the canonical properties of circadian clocks: free-running period, entrainment, and temperature compensation. We show that gene expression in B. subtilis can be synchronized in 24-hour light or temperature cycles and exhibit phase-specific characteristics of entrainment. Upon release to constant dark and temperature conditions, bacterial biofilm populations have temperature-compensated free-running oscillations with a period close to 24 hours. Our work opens the field of circadian clocks in the free-living, nonphotosynthetic prokaryotes, bringing considerable potential for impact upon biomedicine, ecology, and industrial processes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xu Zhou ◽  
Jingliang He ◽  
Jinbo Chen ◽  
Yu Cui ◽  
Zhenyu Ou ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Leydig cells reflect the activation of inflammation, decrease of androgen production, inhibition of cell growth and promotion of cell apoptosis under orchitis. Maternally expressed gene 3 (MEG3) exerts a crucial role in various human diseases, but under orchitis, the role and underlying molecular mechanism of MEG3 in Leydig cells remain unclear. Methods Lipofectamine 2000 was used for the cell transfections. qPCR and western blots assay were applied to assess the gene expression. ELISA assay was used to measure the TNFα, IL6 and testosterone secretion. CCK8 and EdU assay was employ to test the cell viability and proliferation respectively. Luciferase reporter and RIP assay were introduced to detect the binding of miR-93-5p with MEG3 and PTEN. Results Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) induced TNFα and IL6 secretion, lowered testosterone production, inhibited cell viability and proliferation, and induced cell apoptosis in Leydig cells. MEG3 was upregulated in Leydig cells treated with LPS and that knockdown of MEG3 inhibited the role of LPS in Leydig cells. MEG3 absorbed miR-93-5p and that suppression of miR-93-5p restored the role of silenced MEG3 in Leydig cells under LPS treatment. miR-93-5p inhibited PTEN expression and that over-expressed PTEN alleviated the effect of miR-93-5p in Leydig cells treated with LPS. LPS activated the MEG3/miR-93-5p/PTEN signalling pathway in Leydig cells. Conclusions This study revealed that MEG3 serves as a molecular sponge to absorb miR-93-5p, thus leading to elevation of PTEN expression in Leydig cells under LPS treatment, offering a theoretical basis on which to establish potential new treatment strategies for orchitis.


2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (11) ◽  
pp. 5102-5107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Percy Griffin ◽  
Julie M. Dimitry ◽  
Patrick W. Sheehan ◽  
Brian V. Lananna ◽  
Chun Guo ◽  
...  

Circadian dysfunction is a common attribute of many neurodegenerative diseases, most of which are associated with neuroinflammation. Circadian rhythm dysfunction has been associated with inflammation in the periphery, but the role of the core clock in neuroinflammation remains poorly understood. Here we demonstrate that Rev-erbα, a nuclear receptor and circadian clock component, is a mediator of microglial activation and neuroinflammation. We observed time-of-day oscillation in microglial immunoreactivity in the hippocampus, which was disrupted in Rev-erbα−/− mice. Rev-erbα deletion caused spontaneous microglial activation in the hippocampus and increased expression of proinflammatory transcripts, as well as secondary astrogliosis. Transcriptomic analysis of hippocampus from Rev-erbα−/− mice revealed a predominant inflammatory phenotype and suggested dysregulated NF-κB signaling. Primary Rev-erbα−/− microglia exhibited proinflammatory phenotypes and increased basal NF-κB activation. Chromatin immunoprecipitation revealed that Rev-erbα physically interacts with the promoter regions of several NF-κB–related genes in primary microglia. Loss of Rev-erbα in primary astrocytes had no effect on basal activation but did potentiate the inflammatory response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS). In vivo, Rev-erbα−/− mice exhibited enhanced hippocampal neuroinflammatory responses to peripheral LPS injection, while pharmacologic activation of Rev-erbs with the small molecule agonist SR9009 suppressed LPS-induced hippocampal neuroinflammation. Rev-erbα deletion influenced neuronal health, as conditioned media from Rev-erbα–deficient primary glial cultures exacerbated oxidative damage in cultured neurons. Rev-erbα−/− mice also exhibited significantly altered cortical resting-state functional connectivity, similar to that observed in neurodegenerative models. Our results reveal Rev-erbα as a pharmacologically accessible link between the circadian clock and neuroinflammation.


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