Circadian period is the result of the interaction between the cell autonomous clock and the BMP retrograde signaling pathway

BECKWITH, ESTEBAN J; EZEQUIE AXEL GOROSTIZA; PÉREZ SANTÁNGELO, AGUSTÍN ; JIMENA BERNI; CAROLINA REZÁVAL; NADRA, ALEJANDRO DANIEL; CERIANI, M FERNANDA

Huerta Grande, Córdoba, Argentina

Congreso; Argentine Society for Neurosciences XXVII Meeting; 2012

Sociedad Argentina de Neurociencias

The circadian clock controls rhythms in behavior, physiology and metabolism. In Drosophila, and other species, some of the molecular components of the clock, as well as the neuronal network responsible to generate and sustain circadian locomotor activity have been described. To identify additional components involved in information transmision relevant for synchronization of the circadian network we carried out a genetic screen. As a result, a fly strain that shows period lengthening of daily activity rhythms was singled out. This strain alters schnurri (shn) expression, a nuclear component of the BMP signalling pathway. We showed that adult-specific activation within pacemaker cells produced a long period phenotype in locomotor behavior. Also, we found that the BMP pathway is expressed in the adult circadian system and identified some of the BMP ligands crucial for circadian coordination within this neuronal network. Interestingly, we found that the pathway is required to fine-tune circadian period in the adult brain through the regulation of clock transcription in pacemaker neurons. Thus, adult circadian period would integrate both the pace of the cell-autonomous molecular clock and information derived by other circadian clusters to ensure coherence in the circadian network.