Dataset Information

Vasalou2010_Pacemaker_Neuron_SCN

ABSTRACT: This the single cell model from the article: A multiscale model to investigate circadian rhythmicity of pacemaker neurons in the suprachiasmatic nucleus. Vasalou C, Henson MA. PLoS Comput Biol 2010 Mar 12;6(3):e1000706. PMID: 20300645 , DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000706 ; Abstract: The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus is a multicellular system that drives daily rhythms in mammalian behavior and physiology. Although the gene regulatory network that produces daily oscillations within individual neurons is well characterized, less is known about the electrophysiology of the SCN cells and how firing rate correlates with circadian gene expression. We developed a firing rate code model to incorporate known electrophysiological properties of SCN pacemaker cells, including circadian dependent changes in membrane voltage and ion conductances. Calcium dynamics were included in the model as the putative link between electrical firing and gene expression. Individual ion currents exhibited oscillatory patterns matching experimental data both in current levels and phase relationships. VIP and GABA neurotransmitters, which encode synaptic signals across the SCN, were found to play critical roles in daily oscillations of membrane excitability and gene expression. Blocking various mechanisms of intracellular calcium accumulation by simulated pharmacological agents (nimodipine, IP3- and ryanodine-blockers) reproduced experimentally observed trends in firing rate dynamics and core-clock gene transcription. The intracellular calcium concentration was shown to regulate diverse circadian processes such as firing frequency, gene expression and system periodicity. The model predicted a direct relationship between firing frequency and gene expression amplitudes, demonstrated the importance of intracellular pathways for single cell behavior and provided a novel multiscale framework which captured characteristics of the SCN at both the electrophysiological and gene regulatory levels. Originally created by libAntimony v1.3 (using libSBML 4.1.0-b1) This model originates from BioModels Database: A Database of Annotated Published Models. It is copyright (c) 2005-2010 The BioModels Team. For more information see the terms of use . To cite BioModels Database, please use Le Novère N., Bornstein B., Broicher A., Courtot M., Donizelli M., Dharuri H., Li L., Sauro H., Schilstra M., Shapiro B., Snoep J.L., Hucka M. (2006) BioModels Database: A Free, Centralized Database of Curated, Published, Quantitative Kinetic Models of Biochemical and Cellular Systems Nucleic Acids Res., 34: D689-D691.

SUBMITTER: Lukas Endler

PROVIDER: BIOMD0000000246 | BioModels | 2010-04-09

REPOSITORIES: BioModels

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A multiscale model to investigate circadian rhythmicity of pacemaker neurons in the suprachiasmatic nucleus.

Vasalou Christina C Henson Michael A MA

PLoS computational biology 20100312 3

The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus is a multicellular system that drives daily rhythms in mammalian behavior and physiology. Although the gene regulatory network that produces daily oscillations within individual neurons is well characterized, less is known about the electrophysiology of the SCN cells and how firing rate correlates with circadian gene expression. We developed a firing rate code model to incorporate known electrophysiological properties of SCN pacemaker cells, ...[more]

PMID: 20300645

Publication: 1/2

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Project description:To screen for specific circadian outputs that may distinguish the pacemaker in the mammalian suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) from peripheral-type oscillators in which the canonical clockworks are similarly regulated in a circadian manner, the rhythmic behavior of the transcriptome in forskolin-stimulated NIH/3T3 fibroblasts was analyzed and compared to that found in the rat SCN in vivo and SCN2.2 cells in vitro. Similar to the scope of circadian gene expression in SCN2.2 cells and the rat SCN, NIH/3T3 fibroblasts exhibited circadian fluctuations in the expression of the core clock genes, Per2, Bmal1 (Mop3), and Cry1 and 323 functionally diverse transcripts (2.6%), many of which were involved in cell communication. Overlap in rhythmically-expressed transcripts among NIH/3T3 fibroblasts, SCN2.2 cells and the rat SCN was limited to these clock genes and four other genes that mediate fatty acid and lipid metabolism or function as nuclear factors. Compared to NIH/3T3 cells, circadian gene expression in SCN oscillators was more prevalent among cellular pathways mediating glucose metabolism and neurotransmission. Coupled with evidence for the rhythmic regulation of the inducible isoform of nitric oxide synthase, the enzyme responsible for the production of nitric oxide, in SCN2.2 cells and the rat SCN but not in fibroblasts, studies examining the effects of a NOS inhibitor on metabolic rhythms in co-cultures containing SCN2.2 cells and untreated NIH/3T3 cells suggest that this gaseous neurotransmitter may play a key role in SCN pacemaker function. Thus, this comparative analysis of circadian gene expression in SCN and non-SCN cells may have important implications in the selective identification of circadian signals involved in the coupling of SCN oscillators and the regulation of rhythmicity in downstream cells or tissues. Experiment Overall Design: Circadian profiling of the NIH/3T3 fibroblast transcriptome entailed the treatment of NIH/3T3 cells with a 15uM forskolin pulse, subsequent washout of the drug, and collection of total RNA immediately after washout and every 6 hours across two circadian cycles for each of three experiments. Timepoint values reflect the average of three samples from these biological replicates.

Dataset Information

Vasalou2010_Pacemaker_Neuron_SCN

Publications

A multiscale model to investigate circadian rhythmicity of pacemaker neurons in the suprachiasmatic nucleus.

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