Project description:Circadian rhythms are a series of endogenous autonomous 24-hour oscillations generated by the circadian clock. At the molecular level, the circadian clock is generated by a transcription-translation feedback loop, where BMAL1 and CLOCK transcription factors of the positive arm activate the expression of CRYPTOCHROME and PERIOD (PER) genes of the negative arm as well as the circadian clock-regulated genes. In this project, we aimed at finding the interactome of PER2 protein in human U2OS osteosarcoma cell line using proximity-dependent biotin identification (BioID) technique. U2OS clones overexpressing PER2-BioID2 or BioID2 were treated with dexamethasone in order to reset the circadian rhythm, and cells were then incubated in biotin-containing media for 12 hours to label the proteins in close proximity of PER2-BioID2. Samples were collected after 36 and 48 hours of the resetting to identify the labeled proteins by mass spectrometry. In addition to known interactors such as CRY1 and CRY2, many novel interactors were identified. In summary, we obtained a network of PER2 interactome and confirmed some of the novel interactions using classical the co-immunoprecipitation method.
Project description:The transcription-translation feedback loop, the core clock mechanism, is required for circadian rhythm. CRY protein, including CRY1 and CRY2, plays an important repressor role in the regulation of clock genes. However, other proteins, like PER1, PER2, NR1D1 and NR1D2, in the loop mask the transcriptional effects of CRY. This study provides data to find candidate genes specifically affected by CRY1 or CRY2 in mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEF) cells.
Project description:The microbiome in Dermatomyositis associated with Interstitial lung disease and rheumatoid arthritis associated with Interstitial lung disease
Project description:Obesity is recognized as a risk factor for triggering rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and it can worsen joint deformities and diminish the quality of life in patients with RA. The reduction of body weight in obese individuals is believed to alleviate RA symptoms。
Project description:We show that the cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (CDK5) regulates the mammalian circadian clock via phosphorylation of PER2. CDK5 phosphorylated PER2 at serine residue 394 (S394) as shown by an in vitro kinase assay.
Project description:The expression of clock genes are co-regulated by BMAL1 and CLOCK in all tissue including kidney. Whether these clock-regualted genes can be affected by melatonin still unclaer. To further examine the possible mechanism and biological consequence, we depleted BMAL1 or CLOCK with small interfering RNA (siRNA) and treated cells with melatonin. Then, we used microarray analyses to identify clock genes regulated by melatonin in renal tubular epithelial cell.
Project description:Circadian pace is modulated by light intensity, known as the Aschoff’s rule, with largely unrevealed mechanisms. Here we report that photoreceptor CRY2 mediates blue light input to circadian clock by directly interacting with clock core component PRR9 in blue light dependent manner. This physical interaction dually blocks the accessibility of PRR9 protein to its co-repressor TPL/TPRs and the resulting kinase PPKs. Notably, phosphorylation of PRR9 by PPKs is critical for its DNA binding and repressive activity, hence to ensure proper circadian speed. Given the labile nature of CRY2 in strong blue light, our findings provide a mechanistic explanation for Aschoff’s rule in plants, i.e., blue light triggers CRY2 turnover in proportional to its intensity, which accordingly releasing PRR9 to fine tune circadian speed. Our findings not only reveal a novel network mediating light input into circadian clock, but also unmask a mechanism by which Arabidopsis circadian clock sensing light intensity.
Project description:Skeletal muscle has remarkable capacity to regenerate upon injury due to the presence of satellite cells. The maintenance and function of satellite cells are regulated by circadian clock. Cryptocrhome 2 (CRY2) is a key component of the circadian clock and its role in skeletal muscle regeneration remains controversial. Here, we report that CRY2 is down-regulated during muscle regeneration. Using the satellite cell specific CRY2 knockout mice (CRY2scko), we show that deletion of CRY2 enhances muscle regeneration. Single myofiber analysis showed that deletion of CRY2 enhances satellite cell self-renewal. In the absence of CRY2, the ERK1/2 and JNK1/2 signaling pathways become activated, which phosphorylates the transcription factor ETS1, which in turn binds to the promoter of PAX7 to induce its transcription. CRY2 deficient myoblasts survived better in ischemic muscle. Deletion of CRY2 also alleviated myopathy in mdx mice. Therefore, CRY2 plays an essential role in regulating satellite cell function and skeletal muscle regeneration.
Project description:Implantation is dependent on synchronized interactions between the conceptus and surrounding decidual cells but the involvement of clock genes in this process is not well understood. Circadian oscillations are predicated on transcriptional-translational feedback loops, which balance the activities of the transcriptional activators CLOCK and BMAL1 and repressors encoded by PER and CRY genes. Here we show that loss of PER2 expression silences circadian oscillations in decidualizing human endometrial stromal cells (HESCs). Downregulation was preceded by reduced CLOCK binding to a noncanonical E-box enhancer in the PER2 promoter and occurred between 12 - 24 h after exposure to a deciduogenic stimulus. RNA sequencing revealed that premature inhibition of PER2 by siRNA knockdown leads to a grossly disorganised decidual response. Gene ontology analysis highlighted a preponderance of cell cycle regulators amongst the 1,121 genes perturbed upon PER2 knockdown. Congruently, PER2 inhibition abrogated mitotic expansion of differentiating HESCs by inducing cell cycle block at G2/M. Analysis of mid-luteal endometrial biopsies revealed an inverse correlation between PER2 transcript levels and the number of miscarriages in women suffering reproductive failure. Thus, PER2 synchronizes mitotic expansion of HESCs with a periodic decidual gene expression; uncoupling of these events may cause persistent pregnancy failure. Endometrial mRNA profiles of paired control (siRNA-NT) and siRNA-PER2 were generated by deep sequencing, in triplicate using Illumina
Project description:Lung disease is the most overrepresented cause of death in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Animal studies have demonstrated potentiated autoimmunity, arthritis, and profibrotic/inflammatory lung disease with a combination of airborne exposures and collagen-induced arthritis (CIA), a model that recapitulates features of RA-associated interstitial lung disease (RA-ILD). As patients with RA-ILD demonstrate unique circulating monocyte subpopulations, this study aims to characterize lung infiltrating monocytes/macrophages in a mouse model of RA-ILD and determine whether reducing these cells mitigates the development of lung disease. Autoimmune-prone DBA/1J mice received intranasal inhalation of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) daily for up to 5 weeks and CIA induction. Experimental groups included Sham (saline injection/saline inhalation), CIA (CIA/saline), LPS (saline/LPS), and CIA+LPS (CIA/LPS). Lung disease was assessed by longitudinal imaging, lung function measurements, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, lung tissues, and lung histopathology. Cell subpopulations were analyzed by single cell RNA-sequencing. Unsupervised clustering revealed 16 discrete clusters among the experimental groups with 2 robust clusters characterized as infiltrating inflammatory monocytes/macrophages for both CIA+LPS and CIA. The interaction of inhalation-induced airway inflammation and autoimmune arthritis results in lung disease associated with uniquely activated infiltrating inflammatory monocytes-macrophages that mediate adverse lung consequences. Whereas the induced monocyte/Mɸ immunophenotype is more aligned to CIA than endotoxin exposure, co-exposure modeling renders unique features that potentially inform the pathogenesis and treatment of RA-ILD.