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      Binary Switching of Calendar Cells in the Pituitary Defines the Phase of the Circannual Cycle in Mammals

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          Summary

          Persistent free-running circannual (approximately year-long) rhythms have evolved in animals to regulate hormone cycles, drive metabolic rhythms (including hibernation), and time annual reproduction. Recent studies have defined the photoperiodic input to this rhythm, wherein melatonin acts on thyrotroph cells of the pituitary pars tuberalis (PT), leading to seasonal changes in the control of thyroid hormone metabolism in the hypothalamus. However, seasonal rhythms persist in constant conditions in many species in the absence of a changing photoperiod signal, leading to the generation of circannual cycles. It is not known which cells, tissues, and pathways generate these remarkable long-term rhythmic processes. We show that individual PT thyrotrophs can be in one of two binary states reflecting either a long (EYA3 +) or short (CHGA +) photoperiod, with the relative proportion in each state defining the phase of the circannual cycle. We also show that a morphogenic cycle driven by the PT leads to extensive re-modeling of the PT and hypothalamus over the circannual cycle. We propose that the PT may employ a recapitulated developmental pathway to drive changes in morphology of tissues and cells. Our data are consistent with the hypothesis that the circannual timer may reside within the PT thyrotroph and is encoded by a binary switch timing mechanism, which may regulate the generation of circannual neuroendocrine rhythms, leading to dynamic re-modeling of the hypothalamic interface. In summary, the PT-ventral hypothalamus now appears to be a prime structure involved in long-term rhythm generation.

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          Highlights

          • A circannual timer may reside in the pituitary pars tuberalis thyrotroph

          • This is defined by a digital switching mechanism controlling EYA3 expression

          • The circannual clockwork drives a morphogenic cycle in the PT and hypothalamus

          • This involves recapitulation of a developmental program

          Abstract

          Circannual rhythms have evolved to regulate and time annual changes in physiology. Wood et al. report that the pars tuberalis generates the circannual rhythm in mammals through the digital switching of EYA3 expression. A recapitulated developmental pathway is used by the circannual clock to drive a morphogenic cycle in the PT and hypothalamus.

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          Most cited references60

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          Thyrotrophin in the pars tuberalis triggers photoperiodic response.

          Molecular mechanisms regulating animal seasonal breeding in response to changing photoperiod are not well understood. Rapid induction of gene expression of thyroid-hormone-activating enzyme (type 2 deiodinase, DIO2) in the mediobasal hypothalamus (MBH) of the Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) is the earliest event yet recorded in the photoperiodic signal transduction pathway. Here we show cascades of gene expression in the quail MBH associated with the initiation of photoinduced secretion of luteinizing hormone. We identified two waves of gene expression. The first was initiated about 14 h after dawn of the first long day and included increased thyrotrophin (TSH) beta-subunit expression in the pars tuberalis; the second occurred approximately 4 h later and included increased expression of DIO2. Intracerebroventricular (ICV) administration of TSH to short-day quail stimulated gonadal growth and expression of DIO2 which was shown to be mediated through a TSH receptor-cyclic AMP (cAMP) signalling pathway. Increased TSH in the pars tuberalis therefore seems to trigger long-day photoinduced seasonal breeding.
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            Hypothalamic tanycytes: potential roles in the control of feeding and energy balance

            Tanycytes, glial-like cells that line the third ventricle, are emerging as components of the hypothalamic networks that control body weight and energy balance. They contact the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and send processes that come into close contact with neurons in the arcuate and ventromedial hypothalamic nuclei. Tanycytes are glucosensitive and are able to respond to transmitters associated with arousal and the drive to feed. At least some tanycytes are stem cells and, in the median eminence, may be stimulated by diet to generate new neurons. The quest is on to understand how tanycytes detect and respond to changes in energy balance and how they communicate with the rest of the nervous system to effect their functions.
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              Ancestral TSH mechanism signals summer in a photoperiodic mammal.

              In mammals, day-length-sensitive (photoperiodic) seasonal breeding cycles depend on the pineal hormone melatonin, which modulates secretion of reproductive hormones by the anterior pituitary gland [1]. It is thought that melatonin acts in the hypothalamus to control reproduction through the release of neurosecretory signals into the pituitary portal blood supply, where they act on pituitary endocrine cells [2]. Contrastingly, we show here that during the reproductive response of Soay sheep exposed to summer day lengths, the reverse applies: Melatonin acts directly on anterior-pituitary cells, and these then relay the photoperiodic message back into the hypothalamus to control neuroendocrine output. The switch to long days causes melatonin-responsive cells in the pars tuberalis (PT) of the anterior pituitary to increase production of thyrotrophin (TSH). This acts locally on TSH-receptor-expressing cells in the adjacent mediobasal hypothalamus, leading to increased expression of type II thyroid hormone deiodinase (DIO2). DIO2 initiates the summer response by increasing hypothalamic tri-iodothyronine (T3) levels. These data and recent findings in quail [3] indicate that the TSH-expressing cells of the PT play an ancestral role in seasonal reproductive control in vertebrates. In mammals this provides the missing link between the pineal melatonin signal and thyroid-dependent seasonal biology.
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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Journal
                Curr Biol
                Curr. Biol
                Current Biology
                Cell Press
                0960-9822
                1879-0445
                19 October 2015
                19 October 2015
                : 25
                : 20
                : 2651-2662
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PT, UK
                [2 ]Department of Physiology, Anatomy, and Genetics, Le Gros Clark Building, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QX, UK
                [3 ]The Roslin Institute and Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Roslin, Midlothian EH25 9PRG, UK
                [4 ]MRC Centre for Reproductive Health, Queen’s Medical Research Institute, Edinburgh EH16 4TJ, UK
                [5 ]Faculty of Medical and Human Science, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK
                Author notes
                []Corresponding author dave.burt@ 123456roslin.ed.ac.uk
                [∗∗ ]Corresponding author andrew.loudon@ 123456manchester.ac.uk
                Article
                S0960-9822(15)01093-3
                10.1016/j.cub.2015.09.014
                4612467
                26412130
                8913c68a-ffa7-4298-b116-8889c53efd08
                © 2015 The Authors

                This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

                History
                : 29 May 2015
                : 11 August 2015
                : 4 September 2015
                Categories
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                Life sciences
                Life sciences

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