Involvement of stress kinase mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 7 in regulation of mammalian circadian clock.

The stress kinase mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 7 (MKK7) is a specific activator of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), which controls various physiological processes, such as cell proliferation, apoptosis, differentiation, and migration. Here we show that genetic inactivation of MKK7 resulted in an extended period of oscillation in circadian gene expression in mouse embryonic fibroblasts. Exogenous expression in cultured mammalian cells of an MKK7-JNK fusion protein that functions as a constitutively active form of JNK induced phosphorylation of PER2, an essential circadian component. Furthermore, JNK interacted with PER2 at both the exogenous and endogenous levels, and MKK7-mediated JNK activation increased the half-life of PER2 protein by inhibiting its ubiquitination. Notably, the PER2 protein stabilization induced by MKK7-JNK fusion protein reduced the degradation of PER2 induced by casein kinase 1ε. Taken together, our results support a novel function for the stress kinase MKK7 as a regulator of the circadian clock in mammalian cells at steady state.

Diphenyleneiodonium chloride, an inhibitor of reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase, suppresses light-dependent induction of clock and DNA repair genes in zebrafish.

In most species, solar light is both a DNA-damaging agent and the key entraining stimulus for the endogenous circadian clock. The zebrafish is an attractive vertebrate system in which to study the influence of light on gene expression because the DNA repair proteins and circadian oscillators in this species are light-responsive. At the molecular level, light treatment of zebrafish cells induces the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). ROS both alters the reduction-oxidation (redox) state of these cells and stimulates intracellular extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)/mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades that transduce photic signals activating the transcription of particular light-responsive genes, including some clock genes and some DNA repair genes involved in photoreactivation. To date, however, the phototransducing molecules responsible for light-dependent ROS production have not been identified. Flavin-containing oxidases, such as reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase, are versatile flavoenzymes that catalyze molecular oxidation in numerous metabolic pathways. Importantly, light induces the photoreduction of the flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) moiety in these oxidases, leading to ROS production. Here, we show in cultured zebrafish cells that diphenyleneiodonium chloride (DPI), an inhibitor of NADPH oxidase, both suppresses ERK/MAPK activation and efficiently reduces light-dependent expression of clock and photoreactivation genes. Our results suggest that flavin-containing oxidases may be responsible for light-dependent ROS production and thus light-dependent gene expression in zebrafish. Our findings also support the existence of a regulatory link between photoreactivation and the circadian clock in this species.