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Balaji K, Taufique SKT, Shen M, Ehichioya DE, Farah S, Yamazaki S. A single incidental dark pulse during daytime attenuated food anticipatory behavior. Commun Integr Biol 2024; 17:2341050. [PMID: 38685984 PMCID: PMC11057643 DOI: 10.1080/19420889.2024.2341050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2024] [Accepted: 04/05/2024] [Indexed: 05/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Using an open-source operant feeding device (FED3), we measured food-seeking nose poking behavior in mice. When the mice were exposed to 4 h restricted feeding at night, all mice exhibited robust food anticipatory nose poking starting ~4 h before scheduled mealtime. When the light-dark cycle was advanced by 6 h, mice exhibited two distinct bouts of anticipatory poking, one corresponding to actual mealtime which continued at the same time of day, and one corresponding to predicted mealtime which shifted parallel with the light-dark cycle. Likewise, two similar bouts of food-seeking behavior appeared when the light-dark cycle was delayed for 9 h. These data suggest that food anticipatory behavior is encoded to a circadian oscillator that entrains to the light-dark cycle. Two weeks after advancing the light-dark cycle, mice incidentally received a 3.5 h dark pulse in the middle of the day. This single dark pulse had a negligible effect on running wheel behavior but caused a temporary attenuation of both food anticipatory poking and pellet intake. These results suggest that the circadian oscillator controlling food anticipatory poking is sensitive to light disruption and that proper food anticipation is critical for sufficient food intake during temporally restricted feeding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Khaviya Balaji
- Department of Neuroscience, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
- Wakeland High School, Frisco, TX, USA
| | | | - Melody Shen
- Department of Neuroscience, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - David E. Ehichioya
- Department of Neuroscience, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Sofia Farah
- Department of Neuroscience, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Shin Yamazaki
- Department of Neuroscience, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
- Peter O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
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Ehichioya DE, Masud I, Taufique SKT, Jeong B, Farah S, Eischeid A, Balaji K, Shen M, Takahashi JS, Yamazaki S. Protocol to study circadian food-anticipatory poking in mice using the feeding experimentation device version 3. STAR Protoc 2024; 5:102935. [PMID: 38470908 PMCID: PMC10943958 DOI: 10.1016/j.xpro.2024.102935] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2023] [Revised: 01/25/2024] [Accepted: 02/19/2024] [Indexed: 03/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Food-anticipatory nose poking is a unique food-seeking behavior driven by the food-entrainable oscillator. Here, we present a protocol to record a novel food-seeking nose poking behavior in mice under temporally restricted feeding followed by food deprivation using the open-source feeding experimentation device version 3 (FED3). We describe steps for setting up the FED3 and cage, training, and habituation. We then detail procedures for setting up the schedule for time-restricted feeding and food deprivation and for generating ethograms from FED3 data. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Ehichioya et al.1.
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Affiliation(s)
- David E Ehichioya
- Department of Neuroscience, UT Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390-9111, USA
| | - Ishrat Masud
- Department of Neuroscience, UT Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390-9111, USA; Jack E. Singley Academy, 4601 N MacArthur Boulevard, Irving, TX 75038, USA
| | - S K Tahajjul Taufique
- Department of Neuroscience, UT Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390-9111, USA
| | - Byeongha Jeong
- Department of Neuroscience, UT Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390-9111, USA
| | - Sofia Farah
- Department of Neuroscience, UT Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390-9111, USA
| | - Averey Eischeid
- Department of Neuroscience, UT Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390-9111, USA; California State University Channel Islands, 1 University Dr, Camarillo, CA 93012, USA
| | - Khaviya Balaji
- Department of Neuroscience, UT Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390-9111, USA; Wakeland High School, 10700 Legacy Dr, Frisco, TX 75034, USA
| | - Melody Shen
- Department of Neuroscience, UT Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390-9111, USA
| | - Joseph S Takahashi
- Department of Neuroscience, UT Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390-9111, USA; Peter O'Donnell Jr. Brain Institute, UT Southwestern Medical Center, 6124 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390, USA
| | - Shin Yamazaki
- Department of Neuroscience, UT Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390-9111, USA; Peter O'Donnell Jr. Brain Institute, UT Southwestern Medical Center, 6124 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390, USA.
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Ehichioya DE, Taufique SKT, Farah S, Yamazaki S. A time memory engram embedded in a light-entrainable circadian clock. Curr Biol 2023; 33:5233-5239.e3. [PMID: 37951213 PMCID: PMC10872752 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.10.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2023] [Revised: 09/08/2023] [Accepted: 10/17/2023] [Indexed: 11/13/2023]
Abstract
A longstanding mystery in chronobiology is the location and molecular mechanism of the food-entrainable oscillator (FEO).1,2,3 The FEO is an enigmatic circadian pacemaker that controls food anticipatory activity (FAA). The FEO is implicated as a circadian oscillator that entrains to feeding time. However, the rhythmic properties of the FEO remain a mystery in part due to technical limitations in distinguishing FAA from locomotor activity controlled by the primary circadian pacemaker in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). To overcome this limitation, we used the Feeding Experimentation Device version 3 (FED3) to measure food-seeking, nose-poking behavior. When food availability was limited to 4 h at night, mice exhibited strong anticipatory nose-poking behavior prior to mealtime. When food availability was moved to the daytime, mice quickly expressed daytime anticipatory nose pokes without displaying transients. Unexpectedly, the mice also maintained nighttime anticipatory nose pokes, even though food pellets were no longer dispensed at night. We next tested if food anticipation was directly encoded on a light-entrainable oscillator by shifting the light-dark cycle without changing mealtime. Anticipatory behavior shifted in parallel with the light-dark cycle, although meal timing was unchanged. Next, we tested whether encoding meal timing for anticipatory nose pokes required a functional SCN by studying Period 1/2/3 triple knockout mice with disabled SCN. Food anticipatory nose poking of Period knockout mice shifted in parallel with the light-dark cycle independent of a functional SCN clock. Our data suggest that food anticipation time is embedded in a novel, extra-SCN light-entrainable oscillator.
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Affiliation(s)
- David E Ehichioya
- Department of Neuroscience and Peter O'Donnell Jr. Brain Institute, UT Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hinds Blvd., Dallas, TX 75390-911, USA
| | - S K Tahajjul Taufique
- Department of Neuroscience and Peter O'Donnell Jr. Brain Institute, UT Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hinds Blvd., Dallas, TX 75390-911, USA
| | - Sofia Farah
- Department of Neuroscience and Peter O'Donnell Jr. Brain Institute, UT Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hinds Blvd., Dallas, TX 75390-911, USA
| | - Shin Yamazaki
- Department of Neuroscience and Peter O'Donnell Jr. Brain Institute, UT Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hinds Blvd., Dallas, TX 75390-911, USA.
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Ehichioya DE, Taufique SKT, Magaña I, Farah S, Obata Y, Yamazaki S. Gut microbiota depletion minimally affects the daily voluntary wheel running activity and food anticipatory activity in female and male C57BL/6J mice. Front Physiol 2023; 14:1299474. [PMID: 38107475 PMCID: PMC10722266 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2023.1299474] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2023] [Accepted: 11/13/2023] [Indexed: 12/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Emerging evidence has highlighted that the gut microbiota plays a critical role in the regulation of various aspects of mammalian physiology and behavior, including circadian rhythms. Circadian rhythms are fundamental behavioral and physiological processes that are governed by circadian pacemakers in the brain. Since mice are nocturnal, voluntary wheel running activity mostly occurs at night. This nocturnal wheel-running activity is driven by the primary circadian pacemaker located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). Food anticipatory activity (FAA) is the increased bout of locomotor activity that precedes the scheduled short duration of a daily meal. FAA is controlled by the food-entrainable oscillator (FEO) located outside of the SCN. Several studies have shown that germ-free mice and mice with gut microbiota depletion altered those circadian behavioral rhythms. Therefore, this study was designed to test if the gut microbiota is involved in voluntary wheel running activity and FAA expression. To deplete gut microbiota, C57BL/6J wildtype mice were administered an antibiotic cocktail via their drinking water throughout the experiment. The effect of antibiotic cocktail treatment on wheel running activity rhythm in both female and male mice was not detectable with the sample size in our current study. Then mice were exposed to timed restricted feeding during the day. Both female and male mice treated with antibiotics exhibited normal FAA which was comparable with the FAA observed in the control group. Those results suggest that gut microbiota depletion has minimum effect on both circadian behavioral rhythms controlled by the SCN and FEO respectively. Our result contradicts recently published studies that reported significantly higher FAA levels in germ-free mice compared to their control counterparts and gut microbiota depletion significantly reduced voluntary activity by 50%.
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Affiliation(s)
- David E. Ehichioya
- Department of Neuroscience, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States
| | | | - Isabel Magaña
- Department of Immunology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States
| | - Sofia Farah
- Department of Neuroscience, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States
| | - Yuuki Obata
- Department of Neuroscience, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States
- Department of Immunology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States
- Peter O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States
| | - Shin Yamazaki
- Department of Neuroscience, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States
- Peter O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States
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Taufique SKT, Ehichioya DE, Pendergast JS, Yamazaki S. Genetics and functional significance of the understudied methamphetamine sensitive circadian oscillator (MASCO). F1000Res 2022; 11:1018. [PMID: 36226037 PMCID: PMC9539084 DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.125432.2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/19/2022] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
The last 50 years have witnessed extraordinary discoveries in the field of circadian rhythms. However, there are still several mysteries that remain. One of these chronobiological mysteries is the circadian rhythm that is revealed by administration of stimulant drugs to rodents. Herein we describe the discovery of this circadian rhythm and its underlying oscillator, which is frequently called the methamphetamine-sensitive circadian oscillator, or MASCO. This oscillator is distinct from canonical circadian oscillators because it controls robust activity rhythms independently of the suprachiasmatic nucleus and circadian genes are not essential for its timekeeping. We discuss these fundamental properties of MASCO and integrate studies of strain, sex, and circadian gene mutations on MASCO. The anatomical loci of MASCO are not known, so it has not been possible thus far to discover its novel molecular timekeeping mechanism or its functional significance. However, studies in mutant mice suggest that genetic approaches can be used to identify the neural network involved in the rhythm generation of MASCO. We also discuss parallels between human and rodent studies that support our working hypothesis that a function of MASCO may be to regulate sleep-wake cycles.
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Affiliation(s)
- S K Tahajjul Taufique
- Department of Neuroscience, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, 75390-9111, USA
| | - David E Ehichioya
- Department of Neuroscience, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, 75390-9111, USA
| | - Julie S Pendergast
- Department of Biology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, 40506-0225, USA
| | - Shin Yamazaki
- Department of Neuroscience, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, 75390-9111, USA,Peter O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, 75390-8823, USA,
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Ehichioya DE, Tahajjul Taufique SK, Anigbogu CN, Jaja SI. Effect of rapid eye movement sleep deprivation during pregnancy on glucocorticoid receptor regulation of HPA axis function in female offspring. Brain Res 2022; 1781:147823. [PMID: 35151654 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2022.147823] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2021] [Revised: 01/29/2022] [Accepted: 02/04/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Poor maternal sleep quality during the different phases of pregnancy acts as a prenatal stress and is critical for fetal development. Despite the potential adverse effects of maternal stress on the behavior and physiology of the offspring, the mechanisms remain poorly understood. The present study investigates the effects of maternal sleep deprivation (SD) at different stages of pregnancy on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in female offspring. The pregnant rats were subjected to sleep deprivation of 12 h per day at different stages; early (ESD), mid (MSD), and late (LSD) stages, on pregnancy days 1-7, 8-14, and 14-20, respectively. At postnatal day 60, levels of corticosterone (CORT), hypothalamic corticotropin-releasing factor receptor 1 (CRF-R1), and hippocampal glucocorticoid receptors (GR) were evaluated in the offspring. Although the hypothalamic CRF-R1 level was increased in the offspring of SD dams, immunohistochemical staining showed reduced immunoreactivity of GR in ESD and LSD offspring hippocampal area. Altogether, the data suggests that a critical period for adverse effects of SD on the HPA axis in female offspring of Wistar rats may be during early and late pregnancy.
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Affiliation(s)
- David E Ehichioya
- Department of Physiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State, Nigeria; Department of Physiology, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria.
| | - S K Tahajjul Taufique
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Chikodi N Anigbogu
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria
| | - Smith I Jaja
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria
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Ehichioya DE, Amah GH, Akamo JA, Sofola OA. Effect of dietary calcium and vitamin D supplementation on blood pressure control following salt loading. Scientific African 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.sciaf.2021.e00903] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022] Open
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