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Yoshitaka Fukada

Publications and source records attributed to Yoshitaka Fukada.

29 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed2003

Molecular oscillation behind the clockface.

The earth rotates on its own axis while orbiting around the sun. This regular movement of the solar system results in cyclic changes of the light condition of the earth with a period of 24 h, although the lengths of daytime and nighttime depend on the latitude. The organisms living on the earth have evolved an internal time-measuring system called the "circadian clock," which ticks with a period of approximately 24 h in order to adapt to the environment and to anticipate the next cycle. The fact that most of existing organisms retain the circadian clock suggests that the clock-ownership must have been advantageous over non-ownership during their evolution. Here I will introduce the background of the research field of circadian rhythm and present an outline of this Special Review series, which is composed of three articles that review recent research into the molecular mechanisms of the three types of circadian clock systems in vertebrates.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Chicktacking pineal clock.

Many tissues in non-mammalian vertebrates contain both photoreceptors and circadian clock systems. Among these photosensitive clock structures, the chick pineal gland has been characterized in detail from cellular and molecular aspects of the clock oscillation and entrainment. Analyses of the pineal photic-input pathway revealed a phase-shifting mechanism mediated by activation of G11, one of the Gq-type G-proteins. A major photoreceptive molecule, pinopsin, likely triggers this pathway by transmitting the light signal to the circadian oscillator. In the chick pineal oscillator, the transcription/translation-based autoregulatory feedback loop is composed of positive and negative elements (clock gene products) that are homologous to those identified in mammals. In the molecular cycling, a CACGTG E-box located in the promoter region of the negative element genes plays a central role in the transcriptional regulation. The phase of the molecular cycling is modulated by many regulatory components, among which E4BP4 and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) are closely associated with the photic entrainment. A light-responsive element was found in the promoter region of the Pinopsin gene, and the element included a CACGTG E-box, suggesting a novel role of the E-box as a point of convergence of light and circadian signals. These observations together point to general and unique features of the chick pineal circadian system among animal clocks.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Pineal expression-promoting element (PIPE), a cis-acting element, directs pineal-specific gene expression in zebrafish.

The pineal gland, sharing morphological and biochemical similarities with the retina, plays a unique and central role in the photoneuroendocrine system. The unique development of the pineal gland is directed by a specific combination of the expressed genes, but little is known about the regulatory mechanism underlying the pineal-specific gene expression. We isolated a 1.1-kbp fragment upstream of the zebrafish exo-rhodopsin (exorh) gene, which is expressed specifically in the pineal gland. Transgenic analysis using an enhanced green fluorescent protein reporter gene demonstrated that the proximal 147-bp region of the exorh promoter is sufficient to direct pineal-specific expression. This region contains three copies of a putative cone rod homeobox (Crx)Otx-binding site, which is known to be required for expression of both retina- and pineal-specific genes. Deletion and mutational analyses of the exorh promoter revealed that a previously uncharacterized sequence TGACCCCAATCT termed pineal expression-promoting element (PIPE) is required for pineal-specific promoter activity in addition to the CrxOtx-binding sites. By using the zebrafish rhodopsin (rh) promoter that drives retina-specific expression, we created a reporter construct having ectopic PIPE in the rh promoter at a position equivalent to that in the exorh promoter by introducing five nucleotide changes. Such a slight modification in the rh promoter induced ectopic enhanced green fluorescent protein expression in the pineal gland without affecting its retinal expression. These results identify PIPE as a critical cis-element contributing to the pineal-specific gene expression, in combination with the CrxOtx-binding site(s).

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2002

Glucose down-regulates Per1 and Per2 mRNA levels and induces circadian gene expression in cultured Rat-1 fibroblasts.

In mammals, peripheral circadian clocks are present in most tissues, but little is known about how these clocks are synchronized with the ambient 24-h cycles. By using rat-1 fibroblasts, a model cell system of the peripheral clock, we found that an exchange of the culture medium triggered circadian gene expression that was preceded by slow down-regulation of Per1 and Per2 mRNA levels. This profile contrasts to the immediate up-regulation of these genes often observed for clock resetting. The screening of factor(s) responsible for the down-regulation revealed glucose as a key component triggering the circadian rhythm. The requirement of both glucose metabolism and RNA/protein synthesis for the down-regulation suggests the involvement of gene(s) immediately up-regulated by glucose metabolism. An analysis with high density oligonucleotide microarrays identified >100 glucose-regulated genes. We found among others immediately up-regulated genes encoding transcriptional regulators TIEG1, VDUP1, and HES1, in addition to cooperatively regulated genes that are associated with cholesterol biosynthesis and cell cycle. The immediate up-regulation of Tieg1 and Vdup1 expression was dependent on glucose metabolism but not on protein synthesis, suggesting that the transcriptional regulators mediate the glucose-induced down-regulation of Per1 and Per2 expression. These results illustrate a novel mode of peripheral clock resetting by external glucose, a major food metabolite.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Opsin-G11-mediated signaling pathway for photic entrainment of the chicken pineal circadian clock.

Light is a major environmental signal for entrainment of the circadian clock, but little is known about the intracellular phototransduction pathway triggered by light activation of the photoreceptive molecule(s) responsible for the phase shift of the clock in vertebrates. The chicken pineal gland and retina contain the autonomous circadian oscillators together with the photic entrainment pathway, and hence they represent useful experimental models for the clock system. Here we show the expression of G11alpha, an alpha subunit of heterotrimeric G-protein, in both tissues by cDNA cloning, Northern blot, and Western blot analyses. G11alpha immunoreactivity was colocalized with pinopsin in the chicken pineal cells and also with rhodopsin in the outer segments of retinal photoreceptor cells, suggesting functional coupling of G11alpha with opsins in the clock-containing photosensitive tissues. The physical interaction was examined by coimmunoprecipitation experiments, the results of which provided evidence for light- and GTP-dependent coupling between rhodopsin and G11alpha. To examine whether activation of endogenous G11 leads to a phase shift of the oscillator, Gq/11-coupled m1-type muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR) was ectopically expressed in the cultured pineal cells. Subsequent treatment of the cells with carbamylcholine (CCh), an agonist of mAChR, induced phase-dependent phase shifts of the melatonin rhythm in a manner very similar to the effect of light. In contrast, CCh treatment induced no measurable effect on the rhythm of nontransfected (control) cells or cells expressing G(i/o)-coupled m2-type mAChR, indicating selectivity of the G-protein activation. Together, our results demonstrate the existence of a G11-mediated opsin-signaling pathway contributing to the photic entrainment of the circadian clock.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

A negative regulatory element required for light-dependent pinopsin gene expression.

In vertebrates, a variety of light-stimulated genes are distributed in the retina, the pineal gland, and the suprachiasmatic nucleus, but a cis-element(s) responsible for the light-dependent transcriptional regulation is left unexplored. Focusing on the pinopsin gene, a light-stimulated gene in the chick pineal gland, we performed a transcriptional analysis in the primary culture of the chick pineal cells that were transiently transfected with a luciferase reporter gene fused with various lengths of the 5' upstream region of the pinopsin gene. Light-dependent enhancer activity was detectable in the construct with the upstream region between -1156 and +31. Introduction of mutations within the 18 bp sequence at positions -1103 to -1086 (TGGCACGTGGGGTTCCTC), including a CACGTG E-box sequence, elevated the transcriptional activity in the dark and thereby abrogated the light dependency, suggesting that the 18 bp sequence is essential for a reduction of the transcriptional activity in the dark. In an electrophoretic mobility-shift assay, we identified a pineal nuclear factor(s) capable of binding to the 18 bp element in a sequence-specific manner. When a 49 bp fragment (-1122 to -1074) including the 18 bp sequence was placed upstream of the simian virus 40 promoter, the transcriptional activity was dramatically suppressed regardless of light conditions in the chick pineal cells, and a more pronounced repression was observed in nonpineal/nonphotosensory LMH and NIH 3T3 cells. These results suggest that the 18 bp element in the pinopsin promoter constitutes the binding site of a ubiquitous factor that serves for the transcriptional repression that is required, although not sufficient, for the light-dependent expression of pinopsin gene in the chick pinealocytes.

3T3 Cells↗
PubMed2002

Circadian clock system in the pineal gland.

The pineal gland is a neuroendocrine organ that functions as a central circadian oscillator in a variety of nonmammalian vertebrates. In many cases, the pineal gland retains photic input and endocrinal-output pathways both linked tightly to the oscillator. This contrasts well with the mammalian pineal gland equipped only with the output of melatonin production that is subject to neuronal regulation by central circadian oscillator located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus. Molecular studies on animal clock genes were performed first in Drosophila and later developed in rodents. More recently, clock genes such as Per, Cry, Clock, and Bmal have been found in a variety of vertebrate clock structures including the avian pineal gland. The profiles of the temporal change of the clock gene expression in the avian pineal gland are more similar to those in the mammalian SCN rather than to those in the mammalian pineal gland. Avian pineal gland and mammalian SCN seem to share a fundamental molecular framework of the clock oscillator composed of a transcription/translation-based autoregulatory feedback loop. The circadian time-keeping mechanism also requires several post-translational events, such as protein translocation and degradation processes, in which protein phosphorylation plays a very important role for the stable 24-h cycling of the oscillator and/or the photic-input pathway for entrainment of the clock.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Light-dependent changes in the chick pineal temperature and the expression of cHsp90 alpha gene: a potential contribution of in vivo temperature change to the photic-entrainment of the chick pineal circadian clock.

The circadian clock is entrained to the diurnal alteration of environmental conditions such as light and temperature, but the molecular mechanism underlying the entrainment is not fully understood. In the present study, we employed a differential display-based screening for a set of genes that are induced by light in the chick pineal gland, a structure of the central clock entrainable to both light and temperature changes. We found that the level of the mRNA encoding chicken heat shock protein 90 alpha (cHSP90 alpha) was rapidly elevated in the pineal gland within a 5-min exposure of chicks to light. Furthermore, the pineal cHsp90 alpha mRNA was expressed rhythmically under both 12-hr light/12-hr dark (LD) cycles and constant dark (DD) conditions. The total amount of the pineal cHSP90 alpha protein was, however, kept at nearly constant levels under LD cycles, and immunohistochemical analyses of the pineal cHSP90 alpha showed invariable localization at the cytoplasm throughout the day. In vivo measurement of the chick pineal temperature demonstrated its light-dependent and time-of-day-dependent change, and the profile was very similar to that of the pineal cHSP90 alpha mRNA level. These observations suggest that the in vivo temperature change regulates the expression of temperature-responsive genes including cHSP 90 alpha in the pineal gland. The temperature change may induce a phase-shift of the pineal clock, thereby facilitating its efficient entrainment to environmental LD cycles.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphorylates and negatively regulates basic helix-loop-helix-PAS transcription factor BMAL1.

In vertebrates, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) exhibits circadian activation in several clock structures and likely participates in the timekeeping mechanism of the circadian clock. Here we show that MAPK associates with a basic helix-loop-helix-PAS transcription factor BMAL1, a positive regulator for the autoregulatory feedback loop of the circadian oscillator. MAPK phosphorylates BMAL1 at multiple sites, including Ser-527, Thr-534, and Ser-599, in vitro, and BMAL1:CLOCK-induced transactivation from the E-box element is inhibited by expression of a constitutive active form of MAPK kinase in 293 cells. The inhibitory effect is reversed by coexpression of the kinase-dead mutant of MAPK or by mutation of BMAL1 at Thr-534. These results indicate that BMAL1:CLOCK-induced transcription is negatively regulated by MAPK-mediated phosphorylation of BMAL1 at Thr-534 and suggest a molecular link between circadian-activated MAPK and the clock oscillator.

ARNTL Transcription Factors↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A median third eye: pineal gland retraces evolution of vertebrate photoreceptive organs.

In many vertebrates, the pineal gland serves as a photoreceptive neuroendocrine organ. Morphological and functional similarities between the pineal and retinal photoreceptor cells indicate their close evolutionary relationship, and hence the comparative studies on the pineal gland and the retina are the keys to deciphering the evolutionary traces of the vertebrate photoreceptive organs. Several studies have suggested common genetic and molecular mechanisms responsible for their similarities, but largely unknown are those underlying pineal-specific development and physiological functions. Recent studies have identified several cis-acting DNA elements that participate in transcriptional control of the pineal-specific genes. Genetic approaches in the zebrafish have also contributed to elucidating the genetic network regulating the pineal development and neurogenesis. These efforts toward elucidating the molecular instrumentation intrinsic to the pineal gland, back to back with those to the retina, should lead to a comprehensive understanding of the evolutionary history of the vertebrate photoreceptive structures. This article summarizes the current status of research on these topics.

Amino Acid Sequence↗