Circadian Clock Activity in Mouse and Human CD4+ T Cells
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: Though it is well established that immunological functions of CD4+ T cells are time of day-dependent, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain largely obscure. To address the question whether T cells themselves harbor a functional clock driving circadian rhythms of immune function, we analyzed clock gene expression and immune responses of CD4+ T cells purified from blood of healthy subjects at different time points throughout the day. Circadian clock function as well as immune function was further analyzed in cultivated T cells and circadian clock reporter systems. We found robust rhythms of clock gene expression as well as, after stimulation, of IFN-g production and CD40L expression in both freshly isolated and in cultured CD4+ T cells. Moreover, circadian luciferase reporter activities in CD4+ T cells and in thymic sections from PER2::LUCIFERASE reporter mice suggest that endogenous T cell clock rhythms are self-sustained under constant culture conditions. Microarray analysis of stimulated CD4+ T cell cultures revealed a rhythmic regulation of the NF-kB pathway as a candidate mechanism regulating circadian immune responses. Collectively, these data demonstrate for the first time that CD4+ T cell responses are regulated by an intrinsic cellular circadian oscillator capable of driving rhythmic adaptive immune responses in vitro and in vivo. The study is designed with 3 biological replicates from three different time points.
Project description:Though it is well established that immunological functions of CD4+ T cells are time of day-dependent, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain largely obscure. To address the question whether T cells themselves harbor a functional clock driving circadian rhythms of immune function, we analyzed clock gene expression and immune responses of CD4+ T cells purified from blood of healthy subjects at different time points throughout the day. Circadian clock function as well as immune function was further analyzed in cultivated T cells and circadian clock reporter systems. We found robust rhythms of clock gene expression as well as, after stimulation, of IFN-g production and CD40L expression in both freshly isolated and in cultured CD4+ T cells. Moreover, circadian luciferase reporter activities in CD4+ T cells and in thymic sections from PER2::LUCIFERASE reporter mice suggest that endogenous T cell clock rhythms are self-sustained under constant culture conditions. Microarray analysis of stimulated CD4+ T cell cultures revealed a rhythmic regulation of the NF-kB pathway as a candidate mechanism regulating circadian immune responses. Collectively, these data demonstrate for the first time that CD4+ T cell responses are regulated by an intrinsic cellular circadian oscillator capable of driving rhythmic adaptive immune responses in vitro and in vivo.
Project description:U2OS cells harbor a circadian clock but express only a few rhythmic genes in constant conditions. We identified 3040 binding sites of the circadian regulators BMAL1, CLOCK and CRY1 in the U2OS genome. Most binding sites even in promoters do not correlate with detectable rhythmic transcript levels. Luciferase fusions reveal that the circadian clock supports robust but low amplitude transcription rhythms of representative promoters. However, rhythmic transcription of these potentially clock-controlled genes is masked by non-circadian transcription that overwrites the weaker contribution of the clock in constant conditions. Our data suggest that U2OS cells harbor an intrinsically rather weak circadian oscillator. The oscillator has the potential to regulate a large number of genes. The contribution of circadian versus non-circadian transcription is dependent on the metabolic state of the cell and may determine the apparent complexity of the circadian transcriptome. Analysis of temporal expression profiles of 5708 expressed genes in synchronized U2OS cells.
Project description:U2OS cells harbor a circadian clock but express only a few rhythmic genes in constant conditions. We identified 3040 binding sites of the circadian regulators BMAL1, CLOCK and CRY1 in the U2OS genome. Most binding sites even in promoters do not correlate with detectable rhythmic transcript levels. Luciferase fusions reveal that the circadian clock supports robust but low amplitude transcription rhythms of representative promoters. However, rhythmic transcription of these potentially clock-controlled genes is masked by non-circadian transcription that overwrites the weaker contribution of the clock in constant conditions. Our data suggest that U2OS cells harbor an intrinsically rather weak circadian oscillator. The oscillator has the potential to regulate a large number of genes. The contribution of circadian versus non-circadian transcription is dependent on the metabolic state of the cell and may determine the apparent complexity of the circadian transcriptome. Analysis of temporal expression profiles of 5708 expressed genes in synchronized U2OS cells. A 60k customized microarray was designed for 6356 genes, which corresponds to roughly one fourth of the human genome. 1373 genes were assigned to circadian regulator binding sites (CRBSs), 1503 genes were specifically selected in addition to a set of 3480 random genes. For each gene 10 independent probes in two microarray replicates were performed to increase reliability of the data.
Project description:The circadian clock is an evolutionarily conserved mechanism that drives rhythmic expression of downstream genes. The core circadian clock drives the expression of clock-controlled genes either directly or indirectly, which in turn play critical roles in carrying out many rhythmic physiological processes. Nevertheless, the molecular mechanisms by which clock output genes orchestrate rhythmic signals from the brain to peripheral tissues are largely unknown. Here we explored the role of one rhythmic gene, Achilles, in regulating the rhythmic transcriptome in fly heads. Achilles is a clock-controlled gene in Drosophila that encodes a putative RNA-binding protein. Achilles expression is not detectable in core clock neurons using in-situ hybridization, although its expression is found in neurons throughout the fly brain. Together, these observations argue against a role for Achilles in regulating the core clock. To assess its impact on circadian mRNA rhythms, we performed RNA sequencing (RNAseq) to compare the rhythmic transcriptomes of control flies and those with diminished Achilles expression in all neurons. Consistent with previous observations, we observe dramatic upregulation of immune response genes upon knock-down of Achilles. Furthermore, a subset of circadian mRNAs lose their rhythmicity in Achilles knock-down flies, suggesting that a subset of the rhythmic transcriptome is regulated either directly or indirectly by Achilles. These Achilles-mediated rhythms include many genes involved in immune function and neuronal signaling such as Prosap, Nemy and Jhl-21. Comparison of RNAseq data from control flies reveal that only 42.7% of clock-controlled genes in the fly brain are rhythmic in both males and females. As mRNA rhythms of core clock genes are largely invariant between the sexes, this observation suggests that sex-specific mechanisms are an important, and heretofore under-appreciated, regulator of the rhythmic transcriptome.
Project description:Over the past decade, genome-wide assays have underscored the broad sweep of circadian gene expression. A substantial fraction of the transcriptome undergoes oscillations in many organisms and tissues, which governs the many biochemical, physiological and behavioral functions under circadian control. Based predominantly on the transcription feedback loops important for core circadian timekeeping, it is commonly assumed that this widespread mRNA cycling reflects circadian transcriptional cycling. To address this issue, we directly measured dynamic changes in mouse liver transcription using Nascent-Seq. Many genes are rhythmically transcribed over the 24h day, which include precursors of several non-coding RNAs as well as the expected set of core clock genes. Surprisingly however, nascent RNA rhythms overlap poorly with mRNA abundance rhythms assayed by RNA-seq. This is because most mouse liver genes with rhythmic mRNA expression manifest poor transcriptional rhythms, indicating a prominent role of post-transcriptional regulation in setting mRNA cycling amplitude. To gain further insight into circadian transcriptional regulation, we also characterized the rhythmic transcription of liver genes targeted by the transcription factors CLOCK and BMAL1; they directly target other core clock genes and sit at the top of the molecular circadian clock hierarchy in mammals. CLK:BMAL1 rhythmically bind at the same discrete phase of the circadian cycle to all target genes, which not surprisingly have a much higher percentage of rhythmic transcription than the genome as a whole. However, there is a surprisingly heterogeneous set of cycling transcription phases of direct target genes, which even include core clock genes. This indicates a disconnect between rhythmic DNA binding and the peak of transcription, which is likely due to other transcription factors that collaborate with CLK:BMAL1. In summary, the application of Nascent-Seq to a mammalian tissue provides surprising insights into the rhythmic control of gene expression and should have broad applications beyond the analysis of circadian rhythms. CLK and BMAL1 DNA binding profile in the mouse liver at ZT8, sequenced along an Input sample using GAII (ChIP-Seq) Supplementary file ChIPSeq_Mouse_Liver_Processed_data_Table1.txt represents annotated CLK and BMAL1 peaks.
Project description:Circadian RNA expression is essential to ultimately regulate a plethora of downstream rhythmic biochemical, physiological, and behavioral processes. Both transcriptional and post transcriptional mechanisms are considered important to drive rhythmic RNA expression, however, the extent to which each regulatory process contributes to the rhythmic RNA expression remains controversial. To systematically address this, we monitored RNA dynamics using metabolic RNA labeling technology during a circadian cycle in mouse fibroblasts. We find that rhythmic RNA synthesis is the primary contributor of 24 hr RNA rhythms, while rhythmic degradation is more important for 12 hr RNA rhythms. These rhythms were predominantly regulated by Bmal1 and/or the core clock mechanism, and interplay between rhythmic synthesis and degradation has a significant impact in shaping rhythmic RNA expression patterns. Interestingly, core clock RNAs are regulated by multiple rhythmic processes and have the highest amplitude of synthesis and degradation, presumably critical to sustain robust rhythmicity of cell-autonomous circadian rhythms. Our study yields invaluable insights into the temporal dynamics of both 24 hr and 12 hr RNA rhythms in mouse fibroblasts.
Project description:Circadian rhythms are critical for human health and are highly conserved across species. Disruptions in these rhythms contribute to many diseases, including psychiatric disorders. Previous results suggest that circadian genes modulate behavior through specific cell types in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), particularly dopamine D1-expressing medium spiny neurons (MSNs). However, diurnal rhythms in transcript expression have not been investigated in NAc MSNs. In this study we identified and characterized rhythmic transcripts in D1- and D2-expressing neurons and compared rhythmicity results to homogenate as well as astrocyte samples taken from the NAc of male and female mice. We find that all cell types have transcripts with diurnal rhythms and that top rhythmic transcripts are largely core clock genes, which peak at approximately the same time of day in each cell type and sex. While clock-controlled rhythmic transcripts are enriched for protein regulation pathways across cell type, cell signaling and signal transduction related processes are most commonly enriched in MSNs. In contrast to core clock genes, these clock-controlled rhythmic transcripts tend to reach their peak in expression about 2 hours later in females than males, suggesting diurnal rhythms in reward may be delayed in females. We also find sex differences in pathway enrichment for rhythmic transcripts peaking at different times of day. Protein folding and immune responses are enriched in transcripts that peak in the dark phase, while metabolic processes are primarily enriched in transcripts that peak in the light phase. Importantly, we also find that several classic markers used to categorize MSNs are rhythmic in the NAc. This is critical since the use of rhythmic markers could lead to over- or under-enrichment of targeted cell types depending on the time at which they are sampled. This study greatly expands our knowledge of how individual cell types contribute to rhythms in the NAc.
Project description:Diurnal oscillations of gene expression are a hallmark of rhythmic physiology across most living organisms. Such oscillations are controlled by the interplay between the circadian clock and feeding rhythms. While rhythmic mRNA accumulation has been extensively studied, comparatively less is known about their transcription and translation. Here, we quantified simultaneously temporal transcription, accumulation, and translation of mouse liver mRNAs under physiological light-dark conditions and ad libitum or night-restricted feeding in wild-type and Bmal1 deficient animals. We found that rhythmic transcription predominantly drives rhythmic mRNA accumulation and translation for a majority of genes. Comparison of wild-type and Bmal1 KO mice shows that circadian clock and feeding rhythms have broad impact on rhythmic genes expression, Bmal1 deletion having surprisingly more impact at the post-transcriptional level. Translation efficiency is differentially regulated during the diurnal cycle for genes with 5â-TOP sequences and for genes involved in mitochondrial activity and harboring a TISU motif. The increased translation efficiency of 5â-TOP and TISU genes is mainly driven by feeding rhythms but Bmal1 deletion impacts also amplitude and phase of translation, including TISU genes. Together this study emphasizes the complex interconnections between circadian and feeding rhythms at several steps ultimately determining rhythmic gene expression and translation. RNA-Seq from total RNA of mouse liver during the dirunal cycle. Time-series mRNA profiles of wild type (WT) and Bmal -/- mice under ad libitum and night restriced feeding regimen were generated by deep sequencing.
Project description:Over the past decade, genome-wide assays have underscored the broad sweep of circadian gene expression. A substantial fraction of the transcriptome undergoes oscillations in many organisms and tissues, which governs the many biochemical, physiological and behavioral functions under circadian control. Based predominantly on the transcription feedback loops important for core circadian timekeeping, it is commonly assumed that this widespread mRNA cycling reflects circadian transcriptional cycling. To address this issue, we directly measured dynamic changes in mouse liver transcription using Nascent-Seq. Many genes are rhythmically transcribed over the 24h day, which include precursors of several non-coding RNAs as well as the expected set of core clock genes. Surprisingly however, nascent RNA rhythms overlap poorly with mRNA abundance rhythms assayed by RNA-seq. This is because most mouse liver genes with rhythmic mRNA expression manifest poor transcriptional rhythms, indicating a prominent role of post-transcriptional regulation in setting mRNA cycling amplitude. To gain further insight into circadian transcriptional regulation, we also characterized the rhythmic transcription of liver genes targeted by the transcription factors CLOCK and BMAL1; they directly target other core clock genes and sit at the top of the molecular circadian clock hierarchy in mammals. CLK:BMAL1 rhythmically bind at the same discrete phase of the circadian cycle to all target genes, which not surprisingly have a much higher percentage of rhythmic transcription than the genome as a whole. However, there is a surprisingly heterogeneous set of cycling transcription phases of direct target genes, which even include core clock genes. This indicates a disconnect between rhythmic DNA binding and the peak of transcription, which is likely due to other transcription factors that collaborate with CLK:BMAL1. In summary, the application of Nascent-Seq to a mammalian tissue provides surprising insights into the rhythmic control of gene expression and should have broad applications beyond the analysis of circadian rhythms. Mouse liver nascent RNA profile over 6 time points of the 24h light:dark cycle, in duplicate, sequenced using Ilumina GAII (Nascent-Seq); Mouse liver mRNA profile over 6 time points of the 24h light:dark cycle, in duplicate, sequenced using Ilumina HiSeq2000 (RNA-Seq); CLK and BMAL1 DNA binding profile in the mouse liver at ZT8, sequenced along an Input sample using GAII (ChIP-Seq); Mouse liver strand-specific nascent RNA profile over 6 time points of the 24h light:dark cycle, in duplicate, sequenced using Ilumina HiSeq2000 (Strand-specific Nascent-Seq);
Project description:The circadian clock enables organisms to rapidly adapt to the ever-changing environmental conditions that are caused by daily light/dark cycles. Circadian clock genes universally affect key agricultural traits, particularly flowering time. Here, we show that OsPRR37, a circadian clock gene, delays rice flowering time in an expression level-dependent manner. Using high-throughput mRNA sequencing on an OsPRR37 overexpressing transgenic line (OsPRR37-OE5) and the recipient parent Guangluai4 that contains the loss-of-function Osprr37, we identify 14,992 genes that display diurnal rhythms, which account for 52.9% of the transcriptome. Overexpressing OsPRR37 weakens the transcriptomic rhythms and alters the phases of rhythmic genes. In total, 3,210 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) are identified, among which 1,863 rhythmic DEGs show a correlation between the change of absolute amplitudes and the mean expression levels. We further reveal that OsPRR37 functions as a transcriptional repressor to repress the expression levels and amplitudes of day-phased clock genes. More importantly, OsPRR37 confers expanded regulation on the evening-phased rhythmic DEGs by repressing the morning-phased rhythmic DEGs. Further study shows that OsPRR37 expands its regulation on flowering pathways by repressing Ehd1. Thus, our results demonstrate an expanded regulation mechanism of the circadian clock on the diurnal rhythms of the transcriptome.