The dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus as a putative food-entrainable circadian pacemaker.

ABSTRACT: Temporal restriction of feeding can phase-shift behavioral and physiological circadian rhythms in mammals. These changes in biological rhythms are postulated to be brought about by a food-entrainable oscillator (FEO) that is independent of the suprachiasmatic nucleus. However, the neural substrates of FEO have remained elusive. Here, we carried out an unbiased search for mouse brain region(s) that exhibit a rhythmic expression of the Period genes in a feeding-entrainable manner. We found that the compact part of the dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus (DMH) demonstrates a robust oscillation of mPer expression only under restricted feeding. The oscillation persisted for at least 2 days even when mice were given no food during the expected feeding period after the establishment of food-entraine

SUBMITTER: Mieda M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1567710 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature