| Budget Amount *help |
¥2,730,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥630,000)
Fiscal Year 2015: ¥1,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥300,000)
Fiscal Year 2014: ¥1,430,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥330,000)
|
|---|
| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
The flow rate and composition of unstimulated saliva show circadian rhythms. The circadian pacemaker is located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus as well as circadian oscillator in extra-SCN brain regions, and peripheral tissues. The SCN synchronizes other oscillators. The aim of this study is to determine whether the salivary function is regulated by its autonomous oscillators existed in the peripheral clock in the submandibular gland (SMG) or is driven by the central clock in the SCN. We examined the expression profiles of clock genes and Aqp5 mRNA in the SMG using samples taken from in vivo and ex vivo. 24-hour variations were detected in the expression profiles of clock genes and Aqp5 mRNA in the SMG in vivo. On the other hand, Aqp5 mRNA exhibited the arrhythmic expression in cultured SMG ex vivo. Therefore, we propose that the 24-hour expression of Aqp5 in the SMG was dominantly regulated by the central clock in the SCN via the autonomic nervous system.
|
