Constitutive overexpression of the Drosophila period protein inhibits period mRNA cycling

• Published in: The EMBO journal Vol. 13; no. 15; pp. 3590 - 3598
• Main Authors: Zeng, H, Hardin, P.E, Rosbash, M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group 01.08.1994
• Subjects: animal proteins; Animals; Animals, Genetically Modified; Behavior, Animal; Biochemistry. Physiology. Immunology; Biological and medical sciences; brain; Brain - metabolism; circadian rhythm; Circadian Rhythm - genetics; compound eyes; Drosophila; Drosophila melanogaster; Drosophila melanogaster - genetics; Drosophila melanogaster - metabolism; Drosophila Proteins; Eye Proteins - genetics; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation - physiology; Genes, Insect - genetics; genetic regulation; Homeostasis; immunochemistry; Insecta; Invertebrates; Male; messenger RNA; Nuclear Proteins - genetics; Nuclear Proteins - metabolism; per gene; Period Circadian Proteins; Photoreceptor Cells, Invertebrate - metabolism; photoreceptors; Physiology. Development; Promoter Regions, Genetic - genetics; Recombinant Fusion Proteins - biosynthesis; Recombinant Fusion Proteins - genetics; Rhodopsin; RNA, Messenger - genetics; RNA, Messenger - metabolism; structural genes; transcription (genetics); Autoregulation; Transcription; Insecta; Drosophila; Photoreceptor; Circadian rhythm; Gene expression; Drosophilidae; Eye; Arthropoda; Invertebrata; Diptera; Brain (vertebrata)
• ISSN: 0261-4189; 1460-2075
• DOI: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1994.tb06666.x

The Drosophila period gene (per) is a likely component of a circadian pacemaker, per protein (PER) participates in the regulation of its own expression, at least in part at the transcriptional level. There is at present no direct evidence that the effect of PER on its own transcription is intracellular. Results presented in this paper show that (i) the circadian oscillations of both per mRNA and PER protein are quantitatively similar in eye photoreceptor cells and in brain; (ii) constitutive overexpression of PER only in photoreceptors R1-R6 represses endogenous per RNA cycling in these cells but not in other per-expressing cells, (iii) the overexpression construct has no effect on locomoter activity rhythms. These results indicate that the autoregulation of per expression is a direct, intracellular event and suggest that each per-expressing cell contains an autonomous oscillator of which the per feedback loop is a component.