title: Maternal feeding controls fetal biological clock.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  It is widely accepted that circadian physiological rhythms of the fetus are affected by oscillators in the maternal brain that are coupled to the environmental light-dark (LD) cycle.
  
  
  RESULTS
  To study the link between fetal and maternal biological clocks, we investigated the effects of cycles of maternal food availability on the rhythms of Per1 gene expression in the fetal suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) and liver using a transgenic rat model whose tissues express luciferase in vitro. Although the maternal SCN remained phase-locked to the LD cycle, maternal restricted feeding phase-advanced the fetal SCN and liver by 5 and 7 hours respectively within the 22-day pregnancy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results demonstrate that maternal feeding entrains the fetal SCN and liver independently of both the maternal SCN and the LD cycle. This indicates that maternal-feeding signals can be more influential for the fetal SCN and particular organ oscillators than hormonal signals controlled by the maternal SCN, suggesting the importance of a regular maternal feeding schedule for appropriate fetal molecular clockwork during pregnancy.
authors.affiliation: Center for Perinatal Medicine, Tohoku University Hospital, Sendai, Japan. hideohta@mail.tains.tohoku.ac.jp
authors.forename: Hidenobu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ohta
authors.forename: Shanhai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Takahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Moriya
authors.forename: Masayuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Iigo
authors.forename: Tatsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Norimichi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nakahata
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chisaka
authors.forename: Takushi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hanita
authors.forename: Tadashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsuda
authors.forename: Toshihiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ohura
authors.forename: Yoshitaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: Nobuo
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yaegashi
authors.forename: Shigeru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tsuchiya
authors.forename: Hajime
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tei
authors.forename: Kunihiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Okamura
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D001683:Biological Clocks / Q000502:physiology*; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005333:Fetus / Q000378:metabolism*; D008425:Maternal Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D051381:Rats