Identification of temperature compensation mechanisms in the mammalian circadian clock

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K08212
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Environmental physiology(including physical medicine and nutritional physiology)
• Research Institution: Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Tsuchiya Yoshiki 京都府立医科大学, 医学(系)研究科(研究院), 講師 (30456777)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): YAGITA Kazuhiro 京都府立医科大学, 大学院医学研究科, 教授 (90324920)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 概日リズム / 温度補償性

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, we aimed to reveal mechanisms underlying temperature compensation of the mammalian circadian clock. We established a series of mouse embryonic stem cell (ESC) lines with single or multiplex clock gene ablations. ESC-based in vitro circadian clock formation assay reveals that complexed mutations, such as the CKIδ:CKIε:Cry2 mutant, exhibit an additively lengthened circadian period. By using these mutant cells, we also investigated the relation between period-length alteration and temperature compensation. Although CKIδ deficient cells slightly affected the temperature-insensitivity of period-length, we demonstrated that the temperature compensation property is largely maintained in all mutants. These results show that the ESC-based assay system could offer a more systematic and comprehensive approach to the genotype-chronotype analysis of the intracellular circadian clockwork in mammals.

Free Research Field

分子生物学