Clock gene expression in gravid uterus and extra-embryonic tissues during late gestation in the mouse
Christine K. Ratajczak A , Erik D. Herzog B and Louis J. Muglia C DA Molecular Cell Biology Program, Washington University, St Louis, MO 63110, USA.
B Department of Biology, Washington University, St Louis, MO 63130, USA.
C Department of Paediatrics, Vanderbilt University, School of Medicine and the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, Nashville, TN 37232, USA.
D Corresponding author. Email: louis.muglia@vanderbilt.edu
Reproduction, Fertility and Development 22(5) 743-750 https://doi.org/10.1071/RD09243
Submitted: 22 September 2009 Accepted: 17 November 2009 Published: 7 April 2010
Abstract
Evidence in humans and rodents suggests the importance of circadian rhythmicity in parturition. A molecular clock underlies the generation of circadian rhythmicity. While this molecular clock has been identified in numerous tissues, the expression and regulation of clock genes in tissues relevant to parturition is largely undefined. Here, the expression and regulation of the clock genes Bmal1, Clock, cryptochrome (Cry1/2) and period (Per1/2) was examined in the murine gravid uterus, placenta and fetal membranes during late gestation. All clock genes examined were expressed in the tissues of interest throughout the last third of gestation. Upregulation of a subset of these clock genes was observed in each of these tissues in the final two days of gestation. Oscillating expression of mRNA for a subset of the examined clock genes was detected in the gravid uterus, placenta and fetal membranes. Furthermore, bioluminescence recording on explants from gravid Per2::luciferase mice indicated rhythmic expression of PER2 protein in these tissues. These data demonstrate expression and rhythmicity of clock genes in tissues relevant to parturition indicating a potential contribution of peripheral molecular clocks to this process.
Additional keywords: circadian rhythmicity, parturition, pregnancy.
Acknowledgements
We thank Sherri Vogt, Crystal Kelley and Tatiana Simon for technical assistance. Support from NIMH 63104 (E.D.H.). This work was supported by the Center for Preterm Birth Research at Washington University in St. Louis.
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