Rhythmic expression of circadian clock genes in human leukocytes and beard hair follicle cells.
Evaluating individual circadian rhythm traits is crucial for understanding the human biological clock system. The present study reports characterization of physiological and molecular parameters in 13 healthy male subjects under a constant routine condition, where interfering factors were kept to minimum. We measured hormonal secretion levels and examined temporal expression profiles of circadian clock genes in peripheral leukocytes and beard hair follicle cells. All 13 subjects had prominent daily rhythms in melatonin and cortisol secretion. Significant circadian rhythmicity was found for PER1 in 9 subjects, PER2 in 3 subjects, PER3 in all 13 subjects, and BMAL1 in 8 subjects in leukocytes. Additionally, significant circadian rhythmicity was found for PER1 in 5 of 8 subjects tested, PER2 in 2 subjects, PER3 in 6 subjects, and BMAL1 in 3 subjects in beard hair follicle cells. The phase of PER1 and PER3 rhythms in leukocytes correlated significantly with that of physiological rhythms. Our results demonstrate that leukocytes and beard hair follicle cells possess an endogenous circadian clock and suggest that PER1 and PER3 expression would be appropriate biomarkers and hair follicle cells could be a useful tissue source for the evaluation of biological clock traits in individuals.
Department of Psychophysiology, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, 4-1-1 Ogawa-Higashi, Kodaira, Tokyo 187-8553, Japan.
Makiko
M
Watanabe
Akiko
A
Hida
Shingo
S
Kitamura
Minori
M
Enomoto
Yosuke
Y
Ohsawa
Yasuko
Y
Katayose
Kentaro
K
Nozaki
Yoshiya
Y
Moriguchi
Sayaka
S
Aritake
Shigekazu
S
Higuchi
Miyuki
M
Tamura
Mie
M
Kato
Kazuo
K
Mishima
D056930:ARNTL Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics; D056926:CLOCK Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D057906:Circadian Clocks / Q000235:genetics*; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000235:genetics*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D018859:Hair Follicle / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000378:metabolism; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008550:Melatonin / Q000097:blood; D056950:Period Circadian Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D055815:Young Adult
D056930:ARNTL Transcription Factors; C538960:BMAL1 protein, human; C539022:PER1 protein, human; C512644:PER3 protein, human; D056950:Period Circadian Proteins; D056926:CLOCK Proteins; D008550:Melatonin; D006854:Hydrocortisone