Circadian key component CLOCK/BMAL1 interferes with segmentation clock in mouse embryonic organoids
Yasuhiro Umemura, Nobuya Koike, Yoshiki Tsuchiya, Hitomi Watanabe, Gen Kondoh, Ryoichiro Kageyama, Kazuhiro Yagita
Abstract
Significance Although the circadian clock is essential for regulating the temporal order of physiological functions, circadian oscillation is strictly suppressed in the early-to-mid–stage embryos in mammalian developmental process. The biological significance controlling the suppression of the circadian clock and its delayed emergence in mammalian embryos has been unknown. Here, we show that the premature expression of the functional circadian components CLOCK/BMAL1 in mouse induced presomitic mesoderm and gastruloids can interfere with the segmentation clock Hes7 oscillation and somitogenesis through the Hes7 transcription and its regulatory pathways. This suggests that the CLOCK/BMAL1 function may need to be suppressed during somitogenesis.