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Fibrinolytic Proteins And Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Modulation Of Suprachiasmatic Nucleus Circadian Clock, Xiang Mou

Doctoral Dissertations

Mammalian circadian rhythms are controlled by a clock located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). The mechanisms through which light phase-shifts the SCN circadian clock are similar to those underlying memory formation and long-term potentiation (LTP). Several secreted proteins, including tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA), plasminogen, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), have been implicated in this process. These same proteins are important for photic phase-shifts of the SCN circadian clock. Early night glutamate application to SCN containing brain slices resets the circadian clock. Our experiments find that the endogenous tPA inhibitor, plasminogen activator inhibitor 1(PAI-1), blocked these shifts in slices from wildtype …